Biography
Dr. Hadeesha Piyadasa is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Ottawa, and a Scientist at the CHEO Research Institute. Dr. Piyadasa completed a BSc (Honours) in Biochemistry and a PhD in Immunology at the University of Manitoba. He then pursued postdoctoral training in spatial biology in the Department of Pathology at Stanford University, where he applied spatial multi-omics to brain tumors, breast cancer and Alzheimer's disease. His work has been supported by a CIHR Postdoctoral Fellowship and a Cancer Research Society Next Generation of Scientists Award. Dr. Piyadasa joined the University of Ottawa in 2026. His research program applies spatial multi-omics approaches to study pediatric brain tumors, the leading cause of cancer-related death in children in Canada. His lab aims to identify tumor microenvironment signatures associated with clinical outcomes, and targetable mechanisms for the development of new therapeutic strategies. In addition, following surgery and standard of care treatment, childhood cancer survivors frequently experience cognitive deficits and elevated rates of cardiovascular complications. Through the University of Ottawa's Brain-Heart Interconnectome (BHI), his lab also studies the cognitive and cardiac consequences of treatment in survivors.