From Bench to Breakthroughs
PHOTO: JOHN EMIGH
Hiruni Sumanasiri (left) and Professor Kristina Thiel collaborate in Thiel's research lab.
Hiruni Sumanasiri’s stroke of luck started with the University of Iowa staff directory. After graduating from Iowa City West High School in 2022, the aspiring physician spent her summer combing through these listings and “cold emailing” more than 60 UI professors in search of a research role for her freshman year. One reply changed her world—and is helping her change the field of women’s health.
A cardiology professor wrote back to connect Sumanasiri with his wife, Kristina Thiel, a UI assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology. Thiel had funding to establish a lab dedicated to developing treatments for patients with gynecologic cancers—and she welcomed Sumanasiri to her new team.
“That decision transformed my entire life,” says Sumanasiri, a first-generation student who was born in Sri Lanka and came to the United States at age 6, “not knowing a single word of English.” She joined Thiel as a freshman volunteer, pitching in to clean up the research space and wash lab equipment.
Today, Sumanasiri is a senior microbiology major, a Research Ambassador for the Office of Undergraduate Research, and a key member of the Kristina Thiel Laboratory Group, which uses preclinical models of patient tumors to create precision treatments for women with uterine and ovarian cancers.
“Hiruni is one of the most dedicated individuals I’ve encountered in 20 years in academia,” says Thiel. “She excels in learning complex laboratory techniques and isn’t afraid to offer creative hypotheses.”
“I want other first-gen students to know: You belong in every single room.”—HIRUNI SUMANASIRI
Thanks to these skills, Sumanasiri has been able to leverage ideas into her own research topic, joining the many undergraduates—1 in every 3—who participate in academic research at Iowa. Sumanasiri is authoring a paper about how to improve tumor biobanking and better represent a full cross section of women. She presented the project in Des Moines in March 2025 as part of the Research in the Capitol event, which annually sends 20 undergraduates from each regent university to present their research to state legislators.
“My brain doesn’t even see this as work anymore,” says Sumanasiri. “The lab is just my home.”
She also feels at home on Iowa’s campus, where she formed some of her most vivid childhood memories. Her father is a custodian in Lindquist Center, and her mother is a food coordinator for University Housing and Dining; as their only child, she often used to tag along with them to work.
“I walked through all these buildings, which seemed so gigantic then, and I just knew Iowa was my place; it had a huge impact on me,” she says.
Now she hopes to have an equally profound impact on others, especially those in rural Iowa, by becoming a doctor and working to close the gaps in women’s health care. She believes her Iowa experiences have helped make this achievable.
“I want other first-gen students to know: You belong in every single room,” she says. “Don’t be afraid to take up space and ask questions. You never know what that might spark.”
