Achira Karunaratna

Achira Karunaratna is a Volunteer Writer at BioNews, having originally joined the publication under the auspices of its writing scheme. He is currently a PhD student at the University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health working on understanding mechanisms of neural tube closure and congenital defects that affect the developing nervous system. He is specifically studying the role of neural crest migration in neural tube closure and potential mechanisms that cause sex differences in severe brain malformations. Achira has been awarded a MPhil in developmental biology from the University of Cambridge and a BSc in molecular biology from Royal Holloway, University of London where he became fascinated with how normal processes in embryonic development when abnormal result in disease both in adults and children.