Research Bio
Pini Perera, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Health Sciences and the Brian and Jennifer Maxwell Endowed Chair in Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. As a trained epigeneticist, Dr. Perera's expertise lies at the intersection of molecular biology and toxicology, as she specializes in epigenetics, genomic imprinting, mouse genetics, and non-coding RNA. Her laboratory’s long-term objective is to evaluate how environmental exposures and stressors impact the epigenome during the early stages of development, and how they contribute to long-term health and disease. She uses mouse models for allele-specific assessment and perinatal mouse exposure models for assessment of maternal stressors to address challenges and validate findings related to the intricate maternal-fetal transcriptional and epigenetic crosstalks during early development.
During her doctoral training at the Louisiana State University, Dr. Perera used knockout mouse models to investigate mechanisms of genomic imprinting for Peg3, a paternally expressed gene with important roles in fetal development and maternal caring behavior. Her postdoctoral training at the University of Michigan focused on identifying the potential roles of non-coding RNA including PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) and their sensitivity to environmental exposure to metals such as lead (Pb). Dr. Perera’s current research program addresses how perinatal Pb exposure impacts genomic imprinting and sexual dimorphism in mice, a project funded through the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Transition to Independent Environmental Health Research Career Transition award (1K01ES035064-01).
Dr. Perera is the recipient of the 2023 Young Scientist Award as well as the 2025 Emerging Leaders Development Award, recognized through the Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society (EMGS), where she serves as a leader in epigenomics. Her research goals also include identifying potential epigenetic biomarkers linked to disease risk and exploring intervention strategies such as dietary changes and epigenetic regulatory mechanisms. Dr. Perera is also committed to training and mentoring aspiring scientists while providing an inclusive learning environment that embraces personal growth.
Research Expertise and Interest
environmental epigenetics, genomic imprinting, developmental toxicology, non-codingRNA, mouse genetics/epigenetics, birth outcomes and maternal health, pregnancy, developmental biology, neurobiology, molecular biology, nutritional sciences and toxicology