Dr Chatura Goonesinghe

Chatura Goonesinghe is a Herchel Smith Research Fellow at the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry. He earned his Bachelor’s in chemistry with First Class Honours from the University of Colombo, where he served as an Assistant Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry and conducted research on heterogeneous catalysts for cross-coupling reactions following his undergraduate studies. He completed his PhD in Chemistry at the University of British Columbia in 2023, where his work on cationic indium complexes was supported by a UBC Four Year Fellowship and the Gladys Estella Laird Research Fellowship.

Chatura's current research focuses on the development of new bio-inorganic hybrid catalysts in the Mateo Sánchez Lab at Cambridge. He is exploring new frontiers in catalysis at the interface of molecular biology and inorganic chemistry. This work integrates the versatility of homogeneous metal catalysts with the evolutionary adaptability of protein scaffolds. Chatura aims to create novel catalytic systems that offer precise control over stereo- and regioselectivity through the directed evolution of artificial metalloenzymes.