Lakshika Dissanayake
Southern Illinois University, PhD
EREF Scholar 2022
Hybrid Chemo-Bio Upcycling of Waste Textile
This project addresses the significant environmental concern of textile waste, which is the second-largest polluting industry globally. While traditional recycling methods for textiles are insufficient due to their complex chemical nature, the concept of “upcycling” offers a more attractive and sustainable solution.
Her research, undertaken as a graduate research assistant at the Synthetic Microbiology Laboratory at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (SIUC), under the supervision of Dr. Lahiru Jayakody, aims to find real-world solutions to existing global environmental issues using microbes. The project employs a two-pronged approach: first, a hydrothermal process breaks down the cotton-PET textile waste into its fundamental components. Second, she engineers the metabolic pathways of a novel bacterium to utilize these breakdown products and produce high-value platform chemicals. The primary target chemicals are acetoin, a precursor for jet fuel, and cis,cis-muconate, which has diverse applications, particularly in the polymer industry.
Lakshika and her team are optimistic about the new bacterium’s potential to efficiently convert textile waste breakdown products into valuable chemicals. This chemo-biological system is expected to not only produce high-value chemicals from textile waste but also foster a circular green economy and significantly reduce textile waste accumulation.
Biography
Lakshika Dissanayake is a current PhD student in the Molecular Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry (MBMB) program at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (SIUC). She first arrived in the USA in 2020 to pursue her master’s degree in the same program at SIUC, completing it by the end of 2021 before commencing her PhD studies.
She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Sciences with a specialization in Microbiology from Rajarata University of Sri Lanka. Following her undergraduate studies, she gained valuable teaching experience as a demonstrator in botany for one academic year. She then pursued a Master of Science degree in Biotechnology from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. After completing her master’s, Lakshika worked as a research scientist at John Keells Research in Sri Lanka, a well-regarded private research institute, where she contributed to the biotechnology field. Her comprehensive educational and work experience in Sri Lanka laid a strong foundation for her graduate studies at SIUC.
As a graduate research assistant in the Synthetic Microbiology Laboratory at SIUC, she actively contributes to finding microbial-based solutions for global solid waste issues. In 2022, she was a recipient of the EREF Scholarship award, which has not only motivated her academic pursuits but also provided crucial financial assistance and career-building opportunities, including networking connections within her field. She is grateful for the continuous support she has received from EREF throughout her PhD studies.
