DrThilini Jayasinghe

Dr Thilini Jayasinghe is a Research Fellow at the Sydney Dental School and the Westmead Oral Health Services Research Hub, The University of Sydney, working in partnership with Western Sydney Local Health District Oral Health Services. Her research sits within the theme of diet, the microbiome and inflammation in oral and systemic health, recognising the close link between general and oral health. She studies how fermentable dietary fibre, short-chain fatty acids and the oral and gut microbiome influence periodontal inflammation and oral-systemic disease, using controlled human trials and multi-omics methods including metagenomics, metabolomics and proteomics. Her expertise spans molecular biology, microbiology, nutrition science and microbiome data analysis. Alongside her laboratory and clinical research, she works to build research capacity among oral health clinicians and to mentor early-career researchers.

Dr Jayasinghe holds a PhD in Health Sciences from the Liggins Institute, The University of Auckland, where her research focused on the dynamics of the human gut microbiome. She completed a Master of Science in Molecular Bioscience at The University of Sydney, studying the impact of Krüppel-Like Factor 3 (KLF3) on glucose metabolism. She also holds a Master of Science in Food and Nutrition from the Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, and a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Food Science and Nutrition from Wayamba University, Sri Lanka.

She is an Associate Editor for Frontiers in Oral Health (Oral Health and Nutrition), a College Examiner with the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons, and coordinates the Sydney Health Partners Oral Health Clinical Academic Group.