Associate Professor Izzy Jayasinghe
2007: Bachelor of Science (Biomedical), First class honours, majoring in cardiovascular biology, Faculty of Science, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
2011: Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Physiology, University of Auckland, New Zealand), awarded on 04/05/2011 for the development of novel high/super-resolution imaging approaches to visualise the signalling complexes in the myocardium. The thesis was awarded the Vice Chancellor’s ‘Best Thesis’ award. Subject areas: Biophysics and biophotonics.
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.
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
2024 New South Wales Health Elite Cardiovascular Researcher Award, “Visualising the spatial heterogeneity in heart failure”, $1m (AUD). Chief Investigator: Jayasinghe. Start 1 Mar 2024. Duration 36 months.
2022* Medical Research Council (UK), Capital Award. “An Airyscan 2 confocal microscope for the Wolfson Light Microscopy Facility”. MR/X012077/1. fEC: £980k. PI: Smythe, E. Co-I: Jayasinghe, Strutt, Whitfield,
2021* Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Responsive Mode grant “Divide and rule: localised Ca2+ signalling in sensory neurons” BB/V010344/1. Duration 3 years (June 2021-May2024) fEC £568k PI: Nikita Gamper, Co-I (Sheffield PI): I. Jayasinghe
2021* Engineering & Physical Sciences Council (EPSRC) PhD studentship, “Developing a novel histopathology toolkit”, Duration: 42 months. Value: £146k (stipend & research expenses). PI: Jayasinghe, Co-I: Cadby
2019* UK Research and Innovation Future Leader Fellowship. “Taking super resolution microscopy beyond the laboratory” MR/S03241X/1. Duration 7-years (May 2020-April 2027). fEC for first 4 years £1.13m. PI: Jayasinghe.
2020 Australian Research Council Discovery project. “Sarcoplasmic reticulum-mitochondrial functional interactions in muscle”. DP200100435. Chief Investigator: Launikonis; Partner Investigator Jayasinghe, Soeller. Duration: 36 months; Value: $512k (AUD)
2019 Integrated Biological Imaging Network pump-priming project grant. “High-speed 3D Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging of Force in Cardiomyocytes” Duration 6-months (Sep 2019- Feb2020). fEC £28k). PI: Simon Ameer-Beg; Co-I: Caroline Müllenbroich, Izzy Jayasinghe.
2019 BBSRC 18alert Mid-range Equipment initiative. BB/S019464/1 “Stimulated Emission Depletion Microscopy (STED) for imaging at high resolution in the Biosciences” (£719k) Principal Investigator: Peckham, Co-Is: Jayasinghe, Beech, Stonehouse, Ponnambalam, Johnson
2018 British Heart Foundation project grant “Cavins - mobile regulators of adrenoceptor signalling” (£128k; 24 months) PI: Calaghan, Co-I: Jayasinghe, White, Colyer
2017 Wellcome Trust Seed Award “Harnessing the molecular-scale resolution of DNA-PAINT to study the structural basis of electrical signals of the healthy and arrhythmic hearts” 207684/Z/17/Z (£100k; 24 months;). PI: Jayasinghe
2017 British Heart Foundation project grant “The role of Ca2+ signalling in the regulation of Weibel Palade Body trafficking” (£161k; 36 months;). PI: McKeown, Co-I: Jayasinghe, Beech
2016 MRC 4-year doctoral studentship from competition funding for project titled “Shining light on the molecular scale remodelling in a heart’s path to failure” (£146k; 4 years; commencing in Oct 2016). PI: Jayasinghe, Co-Is: Andrew Smith, John Colyer
2015 British Heart Foundation grant “Cavins: mobile regulators of β-adrenoceptor signalling in the cardiac cell” (£227k; 3 years; £10k in research funds and a postdoc for Jayasinghe for 12 months). PI: Fuller, Co-I: Calaghan, Jayasinghe
2015 Wellcome Trust ISSF 3-year Early Career Fellowship. “Novel optical tools for probing structural basis of cellular physiology”. Salary + £60k consumables. Forfeited to take up Lectureship in University of Leeds.
2023 “40 under 40” award as an Innovator and Disruptor, awarded to alumni of the University of Auckland.
2022 Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society, UK.
2021 Fellow (Foundation Future Leader) of the Foundation for Science & Technology, London, UK
2020 Finalist at the UK National Diversity Awards as “Positive Role Model”
2019 Departmental nominee towards the Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists in Life Sciences
2019 ‘New & Notable’ award & plenary lecture at the 27th Northern Cardiovascular Research Group meeting, UK
2012 University of Queensland New Staff Start-up competition award (AU $12k)
2011 University of Auckland Vice Chancellor’s prize for the ‘Best Doctoral Thesis’ of 2010 (NZ $6k)
2010 Hubbard memorial prize for 2010 awarded by the Physiological Society of New Zealand for excellence in studies towards a PhD in Physiology
2010 Early thesis submission award for doctoral studies at the University of Auckland (NZ $6k)
2008 Winner of the annual scientific image competition organised by the Biomedical Imaging Research Unit in the University of Auckland
2007 Senior scholarship for 36 months from the Auckland Medical Research Foundation -AMRF- (NZ $97k)
2007 Health Research Doctoral scholarship for 42 months from the University of Auckland (NZ $87.5k)
2007 Lottery Health research PhD scholarship for 36 months (NZ $72k; forfeited to accept AMRF offer)
2007 Prime Minister’s Top Achiever doctoral scholarship for 36 months from the Tertiary Education Commission (NZ $96k; forfeited to accept AMRF offer)
2007 Student presentation prize at the Australian Physiological Society congress held in Newcastle, Australia.
2005 Senior prize in Physiology for undergraduate studies in the Department of Physiology, University of Auckland (NZ $50)
2002 Winner in Senior Physics and of the Junior Scientist award of the Faculty of Science (University of Auckland) at the 2002 NIWA Auckland Science Fair (NZ $1,000)
Electrical and chemical signals generated within cells, tissues and organ systems drive vital functions. Izzy Jayasinghe and her team investigate how these signals are relayed to trigger a heartbeat, and drive other bodily functions, by combing super-resolution microscopy tools they develop with existing technologies.
Most cells contain specialised hubs of signalling proteins and accessory molecules that propagate fast, large, and repeatable signals pivotal to healthy heart rhythm and other critical functions. Now that we know these hubs are wired differently in heart failure, chronic pain, and muscle weakness, Izzy’s team - the Signalling Nanodomains Laboratory - build biochemical maps of these signals to unravel disease processes, and to design and refine novel precision therapeutics.
Cell signalling and disease
Rapid mobilization of ions or small molecules inside cells are amongst some of the fastest signalling mechanisms fundamental to life. They underpin physiologies such as the heartbeat, muscle contraction, neurotransmitter release, activation of gene transcription, and post-translational modifications. These mechanisms are also responsible for major human diseases and disabilities such as heart disease, cancer, paralysis, and chronic pain. Many such morbidities have no cure, whilst effectiveness of pharmacological treatments tends to be variable. At the core of some of the underpinning fast signals, are intracellular calcium signals (calcium sparks, puffs, waves, or transients) in excitable cells like muscle and neural tissues. They consist of specialised, nanoscale signalling domains that harbour ion channels and accessory molecules that coordinate to generate calcium sparks.
For over 15 years, our group have harnessed the power of a range of super-resolution microscopy technologies to resolve and visualise the shapes, locations, and molecular components intrinsic to these nanodomains (Jayasinghe et al, 2018). We now have the microscopy and analysis tools to not only map the position of each ion channel within these domains, but also to detect specific biochemical signatures on each channel, in situ (Sheard et al, 2019). For decades, the nanodomains and their signals have been imaged in isolation. However, one of our recent innovations, a correlative microscopy protocol (Hurley et al, 2021; Hurley et al, 2023), has allowed us to visualise the communications of channels such as ryanodine receptors can produce unexpected patterns of calcium signals. In particular, our discoveries have unearthed spatial heterogeneities in the organisation of calcium handling proteins of the myocardium. Our early observations suggest that these heterogeneities are not limited calcium handling proteins (such as ryanodine receptors (RyR2), L-type calcium channels, SERCA2A, and sodium calcium exchanger) but extend to regulatory molecules, second messengers, nucleic acids, and other structural proteins across the multitude of cells in the healthy heart. We also observe that these variabilities are accentuated in heart disease and may explain the limited effectiveness of the past and present generations of pharmacological therapies targeting the myocardial contractility.
Democratising super-resolution and high resolution optical imaging
Super-resolution microscopy, since its inception over two decades ago, has unlocked numerous secrets of the life processes. We have been one of the earliest adopters of this technology in its wide-ranging incarnations known commonly by numerous acronyms such as STORM, PALM, PAINT, STED and SIM. In spite of the nanometre-scale resolution that is on offer, access and usability of these methods remain modest due to the specialist nature of both the probes and the microscopy instrumentation. Over the past few years, our team have developed expertise in expansion microscopy (ExM) which parallels, and often exceeds, the resolution afforded through the traditional, localization- or optics-based super-resolution techniques. ExM uses molecular crosslinking and tissue clearing chemistries to obtain a three-dimensional imprint of cells, tissues, and/or whole organisms onto a polyacrylamide hydrogel (Sheard et al. 2019). These gels can then be osmotically swollen by a factor of >1000, effectively magnifying the intricate details of the sample that were previously too small to be resolved. ExM samples therefore allow us to visualise nanoscale features of cells and tissues conveniently with standard, and sometimes homebuilt, microscopes. Alongside of this methodology, we have been developing a series of tools that include high-throughput arrays, a new palette of fluorescent counterstains, distortion detection tools, gel automation robotics and 3D printable microscopy platforms to allow non-specialist microscopists to adopt super-resolution.
- Featured in UNSW press brief, "UNSW researcher awarded NSW Health cardiovascular grant"
- Scientist to Watch feature in The Scientist magazine, "Izzy Jayasinghe Harnesses Cutting-Edge Microscopy to Image Cells"
- Featured in eLife interview, "Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: TIGER in STEMM"
- Scientific organizer of the Royal Microscopical Society’s bi-annual super-resolution workshop, July 2023.
- Parliamentary witness, at the Diversity & Inclusion in STEM inquiry at the Science & Technology Select Committee, UK House of Commons (April 2022) – watch recording here.
- Co-organiser of the Inaugural TIGERinSTEMM webinar series in physics, showcasing the research of diverse members of the UK’s physics community. See “Diversity leads to impact: what we learned from running an inclusive and accessible physics webinar series” blog post in Nature Reviews Physics (2021) summarising the impact of this series.
- Featured interview (at 50:00 min) on BBC Radio4 Today programme’s 2023 New Year’s Eve edition on ‘Opportunities in science, technology and innovation’, edited by Anne-Marie Imafidon.
- Women in Science Week 2021 public lecture, “Understanding the gendered and intersectional inequalities in academic STEM” (Department of Chemistry, Kings College London; 11/11/2021)
- Featured in mini-documentary on ‘Simplifying microscopy technology’, commissioned by UKRI for the UK Department of Science & Technology.
- Contributor and signatory to the Written Evidence Submitted by The Inclusion Group for Equity in Research in STEMM (TIGERS) in the parliamentary inquiry into Diversity and Inclusion in STEM (2022) of the Science & Technology Select Committee, UK Parliament.
My Research Supervision
Tayla Shakespeare (PhD candidate)
Rajpinder Seehra (PhD candidate)
Nkolika Atuanya (PhD candidate)
Felecia Sutton (PhD candidate)