Izzy Jayasinghe

Associate Professor Izzy Jayasinghe was recruited to UNSW Sydney in 2023 as Head of the Department of Molecular Medicine in the School of Biomedical Sciences. Her research has and continues to be focus on developing new optical microscopy techniques for studying the organisation of the molecules of life, particularly proteins, within the heart. Izzy is a UKRI Future Leader Fellow at Sheffield University, where she is currently a Visiting Fellow and had served as Deputy Head of the Molecular and Cellular Biology Division since 2021. She built a track record in developing and applying new optical imaging methods during her postdoctoral fellowships in Queensland, and in Exeter (UK), aftre she completed a PhD in Auckland (New Zealand). In 2015, Izzy established her independent research program in the University of Leeds where she developed adaptations of optical imaging methods such as DNA-PAINT and Expansion Microscopy to study pathological nanoscale remodelling in the failing heart. Her current research focuses on developing more accessible, faster and higher resolution imaging methods for imaging optically-thick (and biologically more complex) samples. Izzy is a Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society and advocates for Open Science and Equality and Inclusion in STEM. My primary areas of expertise are optical and nanotechnologies, particularly high end optical microscopy, and biomedical cell biology in the areas of cellular cardiology and heart disease. I have also advised the UK parliamentary select committee in Science and Technology and various national and international research funding agencies on Equality, Diversity, Inclusion, and Governance.