Positions

Overview

  • Dr. Piyathilake is a tenured Professor of the Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and a Senior Scientist in the UAB’s NIH-funded Clinical Nutrition Research Center (CNRC), Comprehensive Cancer Center (UABCCC) and the Minority Health Research Center (MHRC). She trained as a Dental Surgeon in Sri-Lanka and then completed her Master’s degree in international health and a PhD degree in Nutritional Biochemistry from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the USA. Her post-doctoral training and preventive oncology academic award (K07) was focused on diet and cancer prevention with a special interest in nutrient-related intermediate endpoint biomarkers of cancer. Her research goals are to systematically develop promising dietary interventions for prevention of cancer and other diet-related diseases while understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms of action and discovery of biomarkers for early detection of cancer. Her research approach has been instrumental for advancing this area of research toward scientifically sound and biomarker based dietary interventions for prevention and control of cervical cancer, caused by exposure to high risk (HR)-human papillomaviruses (HPVs). She has expanded her HPV research program by including other organs (penis, vulva, vagina, anus and oropharynx) where HPV is identified as a definite cancer causing human carcinogen. Her current HPV research is also focused on the etiological role of HPV in the oropharynx, lung, cervix and anus in HIV infected individuals where HPV could play a significant role in the carcinogenic process.

    • Selected Publications

    Academic Article

    Year Title Altmetric
    2023 Potential Effects of Age-Based Changes in Screening Guidelines on the Identification of Women at Risk for Developing Cervical Cancer..  Cancer Prevention Research.  OF1-OF10. 2023
    2022 Potential effects of age-based changes in screening guidelines on the identification of women at risk for developing cervical cancer..  Cancer Prevention Research.  2022
    2022 The consumption of micronutrients in relation to calorie intake and risk of insulin resistance 2022
    2022 HPV E1 qPCR, a Low-Cost Alternative Assay to Roche Diagnostic Linear Array is Effective in Identifying Women at Risk for Developing Cervical Cancer.  International Journal of Women's Health.  14:257-266. 2022
    2021 The dataset for the assessment of the inflammatory potential of the overall diet consumed by women of childbearing age.  Data in Brief.  37. 2021
    2021 Human papillomavirus sequencing reveals its usefulness for the management of HIV-infected women at risk for developing cervical cancer.  Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Research.  47:2185-2195. 2021
    2021 Racial differences in dietary choices and their relationship to inflammatory potential in childbearing age women at risk for exposure to COVID-19.  Progress in food & nutrition science.  90:1-12. 2021
    2021 The accuracy of HPV genotyping in isolation and in combination with CD4 and HIV viral load for the identification of HIV-infected women at risk for developing cervical cancer.  Cancer Medicine.  10:1900-1909. 2021
    2020 A rigorous exploration of anal HPV genotypes using a next-generation sequencing (NGS) approach in HIV-infected men who have sex with men at risk for developing anal cancer.  Cancer Medicine.  9:807-815. 2020
    2019 Association Between Maternal 2nd Trimester Plasma Folate Levels and Infant Bronchiolitis.  Maternal and Child Health Journal.  23:164-172. 2019
    2018 Association of prenatal folate status with early childhood wheeze and atopic dermatitis.  Pediatric Allergy and Immunology.  29:144-150. 2018
    2017 A higher degree of expression of DNA methyl transferase 1 in cervical cancer is associated with poor survival outcome.  International Journal of Women's Health.  9:413-420. 2017
    2016 Expression of p16INK4A in cervical precancerous lesions is unlikely to be preventable by human papillomavirus vaccines.  Cancer.  122:3615-3623. 2016
    2016 Accuracy of urinary human papillomavirus testing for the presence of cervical human papillomaviruses and higher grades of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.  Cancer.  122:2836-2844. 2016
    2016 Urinary microbiota associated with preterm birth: Results from the conditions affecting neurocognitive development and learning in early childhood (CANDLE) study.  PLoS One.  11. 2016
    2016 An examination of racial differences in 5-year survival of cervical cancer among African American and white American women in the southeastern US from 1985 to 2010.  Cancer Medicine.  5:2126-2135. 2016
    2016 Cervical microbiota associated with higher grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia in women infected with high-risk human papillomaviruses.  Cancer Prevention Research.  9:357-366. 2016
    2016 Homocysteinemia is Associated with a Lower Degree of PBMC LINE-1 Methylation and a Higher Risk of CIN 2C in the U.S. Post-Folic Acid Fortification Era 2016
    2016 Dietary factors associated with bladder cancer.  Investigative and Clinical Urology.  57:S14-S25. 2016
    2014 Functional variants in CYP1A1 and GSTM1 are associated with clearance of cervical HPV infection.  Gynecologic Oncology.  135:560-564. 2014
    2014 Folate and vitamin B12 may play a critical role in lowering the HPV 16 methylation - Associated risk of developing higher grades of CIN.  Cancer Prevention Research.  7:1128-1137. 2014
    2014 A lower degree of PBMC L1 methylation in women with lower folate status may explain the MTHFR C677T polymorphism associated higher risk of CIN in the US post folic acid fortification era.  PLoS One.  9. 2014
    2014 Excess body weight during pregnancy and offspring obesity: Potential mechanisms.  Nutrition.  30:245-251. 2014
    2014 Excess body weight during pregnancy and offspring obesity: potential mechanisms..  Nutrition.  30:245-251. 2014
    2013 Determinants of neural tube defect (NTD)-protective circulating concentrations of folate in women of child-bearing age in the US post-folic acid fortification era.  Nutrition research and practice.  7:315-325. 2013
    2013 Mild Obesity, Physical Activity, Calorie Intake, and the Risks of Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia and Cervical Cancer.  PLoS One.  8. 2013
    2013 Intake and blood concentrations of folate and their association with health-related behaviors in Korean college students.  Nutrition research and practice.  7:216-223. 2013
    2013 Dietary patterns in pregnancy and effects on nutrient intake in the mid-south: The conditions affecting neurocognitive development and learning in early childhood (CANDLE) study.  Nutrients.  5:1511-1530. 2013
    2013 A Lower Degree of PBMC L1 Methylation Is Associated with Excess Body Weight and Higher HOMA-IR in the Presence of Lower Concentrations of Plasma Folate.  PLoS One.  8. 2013
    2013 Folate in pregnancy and imprinted gene and repeat element methylation in the offspring.  American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.  97:94-99. 2013
    2013 Triple Negative Breast Cancer - An Overview..  Hereditary Genetics.  2013. 2013
    2012 A dietary pattern associated with LINE-1 methylation alters the risk of developing cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.  Cancer Prevention Research.  5:385-392. 2012
    2012 A simple distribution-free algorithm for generating simulated high-dimensional correlated data with an autoregressive structure 2012
    2011 Usefulness of serum mass spectrometry to identify women diagnosed with higher grades of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia may differ by race.  International Journal of Women's Health.  3:185-192. 2011
    2011 Aflatoxin levels, plasma vitamins A and e concentrations, and their association with HIV and hepatitis B virus infections in Ghanaians: A cross-sectional study.  Journal of the International AIDS Society.  14. 2011
    2011 A higher degree of LINE-1 methylation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, a one-carbon nutrient related epigenetic alteration, is associated with a lower risk of developing cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.  Nutrition.  27:513-519. 2011
    2011 Predictors and Health Consequences of Epigenetic Changes Associated with Excess Body Weight in Women of Child-bearing Age.  Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.  20:719-719. 2011
    2011 A higher degree of methylation of the HPV 16 E6 gene is associated with a lower likelihood of being diagnosed with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.  Cancer.  117:957-963. 2011
    2010 Aflatoxin B 1 albumin adducts in plasma and aflatoxin M 1 in urine are associated with plasma concentrations of vitamins A and E.  International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research.  80:355-368. 2010
    2010 Association of genomewide newborn DNA methylation patterns with maternal and newborn characteristics.  BMC Bioinformatics.  11:o4. 2010
    2010 Indian women with higher serum concentrations of folate and vitamin B12 are significantly less likely to be infected with carcinogenic or high-risk (HR) types of human papillomaviruses (HPVs).  International Journal of Women's Health.  2:7-12. 2010
    2009 Diet and deprivation in pregnancy 2009
    2009 Diet and deprivation in pregnancy 2009
    2009 Lower risk of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia in women with high plasma folate and sufficient vitamin B12 in the post-folic acid fortification era (Cancer Prevention Research (2009) 2, (658-664)).  Cancer Prevention Research.  2:842. 2009
    2009 Lower risk of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia in women with high plasma folate and sufficient vitamin B12 in the post-folic acid fortification era.  Cancer Prevention Research.  2:658-664. 2009
    2009 Associations among Circulating Concentrations of Micronutrients and Risk of Being Diagnosed with Primary Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (PNSCLC) 2009
    2009 Higher Dietary Calcium Intake is Associated with Lower Risk for Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia in Women Infected with Carcinogenic Human Papillomavirus 2009
    2009 Higher Dietary Calcium Intake is Associated with Lower Risk for Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia in Women Infected with Carcinogenic Human Papillomaviruses 2009
    2009 Sources of Folate Intake in Women at Risk for Cervical Cancer (CC) in an Era of Folic Acid Fortification 2009
    2009 Mandatory fortification with folic acid in the United States appears to have adverse effects on histone methylation in women with pre-cancer but not in women free of pre-cancer.  International Journal of Women's Health.  1:131-137. 2009
    2008 Human endogenous retrovirus K triggers an antigen-specific immune response in breast cancer patients.  Cancer Research.  68:5869-5877. 2008
    2008 Folic acid use in pregnancy and embryo selection.  BJOG: an International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.  115:851-856. 2008
    2008 Mandatory fortification with folic acid in the United States is associated with increased expression of DNA methyltransferase-1 in the cervix.  Nutrition.  24:94-99. 2008
    2007 A practical approach to red blood cell folate analysis..  Analytical Chemistry Insights.  2:107-110. 2007
    2007 Association of vitamin A deficiency with decrease in tumor necrosis factor-α expressing CD3-CD56+ natural killer cells in Ghanaians.  Progress in food & nutrition science.  27:400-407. 2007
    2007 Lower red blood cell folate enhances the HPV-16-associated risk of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.  Nutrition.  23:203-210. 2007
    2007 Protective association of MTHFR polymorphism on cervical intraepithelial neoplasia is modified by riboflavin status.  Nutrition.  23:229-235. 2007
    2007 Update on micronutrients and cervical dysplasia 2007
    2007 Plasma protein profiles differ between women diagnosed with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (cin) 1 and 3..  Cancer Informatics.  2:345-349. 2007
    2007 Novel approaches to smoothing and comparing SELDI TOF spectra.  Cancer Informatics.  1:78-85. 2007
    2007 Update on micronutrients and cervical dysplasia. 2007
    2006 Intrinsic cisplatin resistance in lung and ovarian cancer cells propagating in medium acutely depleted of folate 2006
    2006 Effect of short-term, high-dose retinol on dark adaptation in aging and early age-related maculopathy 2006
    2006 The mandatory fortification of foods with folic acid in the United States is not associated. with an improvement in the degree or pattern of global DNA methylation in the cervical epithelium 2006
    2006 Mandatory fortification with folic acid in the United States is not associated with changes in the degree or the pattern of global DNA methylation in cells involved in cervical carcinogenesis.  Cancer Biomarkers.  2:259-266. 2006
    2006 Plasma protein profiles differ between women diagnosed with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 1 and 3.  Cancer Informatics.  2:421-425. 2006
    2005 Pattern of nonspecific (or global) DNA methylation in oral carcinogenesis 2005
    2005 Protective effect of MTHFR poiymorphism on cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) is modified by riboflavin status 2005
    2005 Women with polymorphisms of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) and methionine synthase (MS) are less likely to have cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 2 or 3.  International Journal of Cancer.  113:991-997. 2005
    2005 Patterns of global DNA and histone methylation appear to be similar in normal, dysplastic and neoplastic oral epithelium of humans.  Disease Markers.  21:147-151. 2005
    2004 Folate is associated with the natural history of high-risk human papillomaviruses.  Cancer Research.  64:8788-8793. 2004
    2004 Associations between two common variants C677T and A1298C in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene and of measures of folate metabolism and DNA stability (strand breaks, misincorporated uracil, and DNA methylation status) in human lymphocytes in vivo.  Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.  13:1436-1443. 2004
    2004 Effect of folic acid fortification of foods on folate intake in female smokers with cervical dysplasia.  Nutrition.  20:409-414. 2004
    2003 Retinoids and epigenetic silencing in cancer.  Nutrition Reviews.  61:284-289. 2003
    2003 Beta-carotene is most predictive of fruit and vegetable intake in an all-female population of smokers 2003
    2003 Folate is associated with the acquisition, persistence and clearance of high-risk (HR) human papillomavirus (HPV) 2003
    2003 Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) and methionine synthase (MS) polymorphisms are associated with a decreased risk of cervical dysplasia 2003
    2003 Race- and age-dependent alterations in global methylation of DNA in squamous cell carcinoma of the lung (United States).  Cancer Causes and Control.  14:37-42. 2003
    2003 Exceptionally High Protection of Photocarcinogenesis by Topical Application of (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate in Hydrophilic Cream in SKH-1 Hairless Mouse Model: Relationship to Inhibition of UVB-Induced Global DNA Hypomethylation.  Neoplasia.  5:555-565. 2003
    2003 Nuclear accumulation of p53 is a potential marker for the development of squamous cell lung cancer in smokers.  Chest.  123:181-186. 2003
    2003 Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) to determine cut-off points of biomarkers in lung cancer patients.  Disease Markers.  19:273-278. 2003
    2002 DNA methylation and diet in cancer 2002
    2002 The pattern of expression of Mn and Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase varies among squamous cell cancers of the lung, larynx, and oral cavity 2002
    2002 Cellular vitamins, DNA methylation and cancer risk 2002
    2002 Cellular vitamins, DNA methylation and cancer risk. 2002
    2002 Differential expression of growth factors in squamous cell carcinoma and precancerous lesions of the lung.  Clinical Cancer Research.  8:734-744. 2002
    2002 The pattern of expression of Mn and Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase varies among squamous cell cancers of the head and neck 2002
    2002 Associations among folate, vitamin C, vitamin B-12, and global DNA methylation in adenocarcinomas of the lung 2002
    2002 Food fortification with folate: Has it benefited cancer prevention and control? 2002
    2002 Gene-nutrient interactions and global DNA methylation in peripheral leukocytes 2002
    2002 Racial and genetic differences in specific risk factors among women at high risk for cervical cancer 2002
    2002 The effect of folate fortification of foods on folate intake in female smokers with cervical dysplasia 2002
    2002 The effect of folic acid fortification on folate intake among smokers and non-smokers 2002
    2002 10 Role of global methylation of dma in lung carcinoma.  Handbook of Immunohistochemistry and in Situ Hybridization of Human Carcinomas.  1:181-187. 2002
    2001 Modulation of cancer risk by genetic polymorphism of methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) and methionine synthase (MS) may depend on the racial distribution of study subjects. 2001
    2001 Nuclear accumulation of p53 is a potential marker for the development of squamous cell lung cancer in smokers. 2001
    2001 Race and age-dependent alterations in global methylation of DNA in squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. 2001
    2001 Variations of vitamin concentrations and DNA methylation in squamous cell cancers of the oral cavity, larynx and lung. 2001
    2001 Altered global methylation of DNA: An epigenetic difference in susceptibility for lung cancer is associated with its progression.  Human Pathology.  32:856-862. 2001
    2000 Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) polymorphism increases the risk of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 2000
    2000 The accumulation of ascorbic acid by squamous cell carcinomas of the lung and larynx is associated with global methylation of DNA.  Cancer.  89:171-176. 2000
    2000 Elevated expression of fatty acid synthase (FASE) in squamous cell cancer of the lung. 2000
    2000 Localized folate and vitamin B-12 deficiency in squamous cell lung cancer is associated with global DNA hypomethylation. 2000
    2000 The accumulation of ascorbic acid by squamous cat cancers of the lung, larynx and oral cavity. 2000
    2000 Immunohistochemical evaluation of global DNA methylation: Comparison with in vitro radiolabeled methyl incorporation assay 2000
    2000 Localized folate and vitamin B-12 deficiency in squamous cell lung cancer is associated with global DNA hypomethylation 2000
    2000 Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) polymorphism increases the risk of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. 2000
    2000 The expression of Ep-CAM (17-1A) in squamous cell cancers of the lung.  Human Pathology.  31:482-487. 2000
    2000 The expression of fatty acid synthase (FASE) is an early event in the development and progression of squamous cell carcinoma of the lung.  Human Pathology.  31:1068-1073. 2000
    1998 Hypomethylation in cervical tissue: Is there a correlation with folate status?.  Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.  7:901-906. 1998
    1997 Correlates of plasma vitamin C and predicted dietary requirements for cigarette smokers 1997
    1997 Variability in DNA methylation analysis of colon and cervical biopsies. 1997
    1995 Cigarette Smoking, Intracellular Vitamin Deficiency, and Occurrence of Micronuclei in Epithelial Cells of the Buccal Mucosa.  Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.  4:751-758. 1995
    1995 RED-CELL FOLATE ASSAY - A NEW APPROACH 1995
    1994 LOCAL AND SYSTEMIC EFFECTS OF CIGARETTE-SMOKING ON FOLATE AND VITAMIN-B-12 1994
    1994 Local and systemic effects of cigarette smoking on folate and vitamin B- 12.  American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.  60:559-566. 1994
    1993 EFFECT OF SMOKING ON BUCCAL MUCOSAL VITAMIN-B12 LEVELS 1993
    1992 EVIDENCE OF FREE, BOUND AND POLYGLUTAMATE FORMS OF FOLATE IN HUMAN SALIVA 1992
    1992 Effect of smoking on folate levels in buccal mucosal cells.  International Journal of Cancer.  52:566-569. 1992

    Chapter

    Year Title Altmetric
    2015 Dietary patterns in pregnancy and effects on nutrient intake in the mid-south: The conditions affecting neurocognitive development and learning in early childhood (candle) study.  9-33. 2015

    Education And Training

  • Doctor of Philosophy in Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham 1993
  • Master of Public Health in International Public Health / International Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham 1988
  • Doctor of Dental Science in Dentistry, University of Peradeniya 1981

    • Full Name

  • Chandrika Piyathilake