Dr Kasun Wanigasooriya MBChB, PGCert, MBA, PhD, FRCS

Dr Kasun Wanigasooriya

Department of Cancer and Genomic Sciences
Honorary Research Fellow
Consultant Colorectal Surgeon

Contact details

Address
Department of Cancer and Genomic Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Dr Kasun Wanigasooriya is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Cancer and Genomic Sciences at the University of Birmingham.

Dr Wanigasooriya also holds the position of Consultant Colorectal Surgeon at George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust in North Warwickshire.

Qualifications

  • Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons RCS (Eng) – 2023 
  • PhD in Cancer and Genomics – 2022
  • Masters in Business Administration (MBA) – 2020
  • Post Graduate Certificate in Medical Education (PGCert) – 2015
  • Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery – 2010

Biography

Dr Kasun Wanigasooriya completed most of his undergraduate and postgraduate education at the University of Birmingham. He has completed several research projects all affiliated with the University of Birmingham. He completed his PhD in Cancer and Genomics in the Beggs Lab at the University of Birmingham under Professor Andrew Beggs. His research involved establishing colorectal cancer patient derived organoid models, developing a model and conducting drug and radiotherapy screens.

Kasun is a consultant colorectal cancer surgeon based in North Warwickshire engaged in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. He is actively involved in colorectal cancer research, genomic research and research into a variety of emergency and elective general surgery topics. He was also an honorary clinical lecturer at the University of Birmingham and recipient of the 'Recognizing Excellence in Medical Education' award by the College of Medical and Dental Sciences at the University of Birmingham in 2015.

Research

Research interests

  • Colorectal Cancer
  • Emergency General Surgery
  • Cancer and Gemonics
  • Patient Derived Organoid Models in Cancer Research 

Current projects

  • MOL-RSRC
  • GRACE Trial
  • STAT-STRESS COVid19 Study

Other activities

Founder of The Master Surgeon Trust (tmstrust.org.uk) medical education charity and Master Surgeon research collaborative.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Oesophago-Gastric Anastomic Audit (OGAA) Collaborative - Data Analysis, Oesophago-Gastric Anastomic Audit (OGAA) Collaborative - Steering Committee, Oesophago-Gastric Anastomic Audit (OGAA) Collaborative - National Leads, Oesophago-Gastric Anastomic Audit (OGAA) Collaborative - Site Leads & Oesophago-Gastric Anastomotic Audit (OGAA) Collaborative 2024, 'Predictors of anastomotic leak and conduit necrosis after oesophagectomy: Results from the oesophago-gastric anastomosis audit (OGAA)', European Journal of Surgical Oncology, vol. 50, no. 6, 107983. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejso.2024.107983

Pickles, OJ, Wanigasooriya, K, Ptasinska, A, Patel, AJ, Robbins, HL, Bryer, C, Whalley, CM, Tee, L, Lal, N, Pinna, M, Elzefzafy, N, Taniere, P, Beggs, AD & Middleton, GM 2023, 'MHC Class II is Induced by IFNγ and Follows Three Distinct Patterns of Expression in Colorectal Cancer Organoids', Cancer Research Communications, vol. 3, no. 8, pp. 1501-1513. https://doi.org/10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-23-0091

Oesophago-Gastric Anastomotic Audit (OGAA) Collaborative 2023, 'Postoperative and Pathological Outcomes of CROSS and FLOT as Neoadjuvant Therapy for Esophageal and Junctional Adenocarcinoma: An International Cohort Study From the Oesophagogastric Anastomosis Audit (OGAA)', Annals of surgery, vol. 277, no. 5, pp. e1026-e1034. https://doi.org/10.1097/SLA.0000000000005394

Wanigasooriya, K, Barros-silva, JD, Tee, L, El-asrag, ME, Stodolna, A, Pickles, OJ, Stockton, J, Bryer, C, Hoare, R, Whalley, CM, Tyler, R, Sillo, T, Yau, C, Ismail, T & Beggs, AD 2022, 'Patient Derived Organoids Confirm That PI3K/AKT Signalling Is an Escape Pathway for Radioresistance and a Target for Therapy in Rectal Cancer', Frontiers in Oncology, vol. 12, 920444. https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2022.920444

Wanigasooriya, K, Sarma, D, Woods, P, O’connor, P, Matthews, A, Aslam, M, Dando, C, Ferguson, H, Francombe, J, Lal, N, Murphy, P, Papettas, T, Ramcharan, S & Busby, K 2022, 'The benefits of index telephone consultations in patients referred on the two-week wait colorectal cancer pathway', Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. https://doi.org/10.1308/rcsann.2021.0364

Beedham, W, Wanigasooriya, K, Layton, GR, Taing Chan, L, Darr, A & Mittapalli, D 2021, 'The Effectiveness of a Foundation Year 1 Doctor Preparation Course for Final Year Medical Students', Journal of medical education and curricular development, vol. 8, pp. 2382120520984184. https://doi.org/10.1177/2382120520984184

TMS Collaborative 2021, 'The perceived impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on medical student education and training - an international survey', BMC Medical Education, vol. 21, no. 1, 566. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-021-02983-3

Bosworth, A, Whalley, C, Poxon, C, Wanigasooriya, K, Pickles, O, Aldera, EL, Papakonstantinou, D, Morley, GL, Walker, EM, Zielinska, AE, McLoughlin, D, Webster, C, Plant, T, Ellis, A, Richter, A, Kidd, IM & Beggs, AD 2020, 'Rapid implementation and validation of a cold-chain free SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic testing workflow to support surge capacity', Journal of Clinical Virology, vol. 128, 104469. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcv.2020.104469

Shields, A, Faustini, SE, Perez-Toledo, M, Jossi, S, Aldera, E, Allen, JD, Al-Taei, S, Backhouse, C, Bosworth, A, Dunbar, LA, Ebanks, D, Emmanuel, B, Garvey, M, Gray, J, Kidd, IM, McGinnell, G, McLoughlin, DE, Morley, G, O'Neill, J, Papakonstantinou, D, Pickles, O, Poxon, C, Richter, M, Walker, EM, Wanigasooriya, K, Watanabe, Y, Whalley, C, Zielinska, AE, Crispin, M, Wraith, DC, Beggs, AD, Cunningham, AF, Drayson, MT & Richter, AG 2020, 'SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and asymptomatic viral carriage in healthcare workers: a cross-sectional study', Thorax, vol. 75, no. 12, pp. 1089-1094. https://doi.org/10.1136/thoraxjnl-2020-215414

Evans, RPT, Singh, P, Nepogodiev, D, Bundred, J, Kamarajah, S, Jefferies, B, Siaw-Acheampong, K, Wanigasooriya, K, McKay, S, Mohamed, I, Whitehouse, T, Alderson, D, Gossage, J, van Hillegersberg, R, Vohra, RS & Griffiths, EA 2020, 'Study protocol for a multicenter prospective cohort study on esophagogastric anastomoses and anastomotic leak (the Oesophago-Gastric Anastomosis Audit/OGAA)', Diseases of the Esophagus, vol. 33, no. 1, doz007. https://doi.org/10.1093/dote/doz007

Review article

Wanigasooriya, K, Tyler, R, Barros-Silva, JD, Sinha, Y, Ismail, T & Beggs, AD 2020, 'Radiosensitising Cancer Using Phosphatidylinositol-3-Kinase (PI3K), Protein Kinase B (AKT) or Mammalian Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) Inhibitors', Cancers, vol. 12, no. 5, 1278. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers12051278