About Dr Gunaratnam

Dr. Lakshman Gunaratnam is an Associate Professor and Clinician-Scientist at the University of Western Ontario in the Department of Medicine and Microbiology & Immunology.

He earned his Honours Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees at the University of Toronto, and graduated from medical school at the University of Ottawa. He completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of Ottawa, and fellowships in Nephrology and Transplantation at Brigham and Women’s and Massachusetts General Hospitals, Harvard Medical School, Boston. He was later an associate physician at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston prior to being recruited to London. Dr. Gunaratnam’s clinical interest and expertise lies in acute kidney injury and renal transplantation. Dr. Gunaratnam’s research program focuses on the role ischemia reperfusion injury plays in regulating innate immunity and inflammation in renal transplantation. His CIHR-funded basic science research laboratory is actively studying how injured kidney epithelial cells regulate inflammation by expressing Kidney Injury Molecule-1. Dr. Gunaratnam is the recipient of a KRESCENT New Investigator Award and the Schulich Clinician-Scientist Award. Dr. Gunaratnam hopes to develop novel therapeutic strategies to ameliorate ischemic acute kidney injury and prolong the lifespan of transplanted organs.

Education

1999 - Hon. Bachelor’s of Science, University of Toronto
1999 - Master’s of Science (Immunology), University of Toronto
2002 - Doctorate in Medicine, University of Ottawa

Post-doctoral Clinical Training

July 2002 to June 2005 - Residency in Internal Medicine, The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa
July 2008 to June 2009 - Fellowship in Nephrology, Harvard Medical School, Brigham General Hospital Joint Program
July 2009 to December 2009 - Transplant Fellow, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Post-doctoral Research Training

January 2002 to August 2005 - Research Fellow, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa (Mentor: Dr. Stephen Lee, PhD)
August 2005 to June 2008 - Research Fellow, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Mentor: Dr. Joseph V. Bonventre, MD, PhD)

Awards

2005 - Resident Research Award, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa
2005 - CSCI/CIHR Resident Research Award
2005 - Royal college of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada-Canadian Research. Award for speciality residents (Single National Award)
2005 - Canadian Institutes of Health Research Fellowship
2005 - KRESCENT Fellowship Award
2011 - Schulich Clinician – Scientist Award
2011 - AMOSO Opportunities Fund
2011 - KRESCENT New Investigator Award