By Dr Thamali Ayagama
Dr Thamali Ayagama is a Cardiovascular Pharmacologist from the University of Oxford. She is investigating the dynamics of Neuropeptide Y in the heart under the supervision of Professor Neil Herring in the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics. She began her scientific career as a Medical Scientist in Colombo, Sri Lanka, before completing a research internship at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology in the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics at the University of Oxford under the supervision of the late Dr Holger Kramer. She subsequently joined the Burton Group in the Department of Pharmacology, where she completed her DPhil in Pharmacology under the supervision of Professor Rebecca Burton, focusing on the regulation of cellular organelles in atrial tissue under normal and Atrial Fibrillation conditions.
Thamali Ayagama was awarded an Unlocking Futures Fund grant from the Physiological Society in 2025. We caught up with her to discuss the results of her project as well as any advice she had for future applicants.
Please tell us about your project:
Under the supervision of Professor Neil Herring, my ongoing investigation into Neuropeptide Y (NPY) signalling in a rat model of myocardial infarction (MI), using both exogenous NPY and selective NPY receptor antagonists, has produced promising preliminary findings. These results indicate a potential therapeutic effect in improving left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction and reducing LV mass, extending the foundational observations previously reported in Herring et al. publications.
What were the outcomes/impact of your research?
A detailed understanding of the sequential molecular events linking the proposed signalling pathways to ion‑channel regulation, calcium handling, and the activation or suppression of key transcription factors is essential for explaining the physiological actions of NPY. Support from the Unlocking Futures Fund enabled me to apply quantitative proteomics to identify dysregulated proteins within this network, helping to bridge the remaining mechanistic gaps.
Do you have any plans to continue this work? If so, how?
The overarching aim of this work is to integrate these molecular and proteomic findings into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) derived cardiac cell models and organoids to study calcium handling and electrophysiology. By mapping the identified signalling alterations onto established biological experimental systems, we can begin to predict how NPY mediated pathways influence action‑potential dynamics and excitation-contraction coupling.
How did receiving the Unlocking Futures Fund support you in this work?
The Unlocking Futures Fund grant provided critical support at a formative stage of my career, enabling me to undertake a crucial experimental step in a project that would not have been feasible through main funding resources alone. The funding allows me to generate high‑quality preliminary data using advanced quantitative proteomics, strengthening the mechanistic foundations of our research on Neuropeptide Y signalling in myocardial injury.
Receiving a competitive national award also enhanced my academic profile, strengthening my competitiveness for future funding opportunities. Overall, the Unlocking Futures Fund played a pivotal role in expanding both the scientific scope of my work and my trajectory as an early-career scientist.
Beyond the direct scientific outputs, the award provided the opportunity to manage a research budget and establish new technical collaborations.
What did you learn from undertaking this project?
By undertaking this project, I gained a greater understanding of how to bridge molecular findings with functional data sets for whole‑organ physiology, enabling me to link changes in Neuropeptide Y-related signalling to alterations in calcium‑handling proteins, stress‑response mediators, and structural remodelling pathways, which is essential for developing mechanistic hypotheses and informing future computational or translational studies.
Do you have any advice or recommendations for potential future applicants?
I would recommend that applicants articulate a focused research question that can be realistically addressed within the scope of the award, while also highlighting how the project will generate preliminary data or methodological expertise that will strengthen their longer‑term research.