MrsSinali Weerasekara Kodithuwakkuralala

Sinali is a PhD candidate at the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), Deakin University. She is interested in school children’s nutrition, with particular emphasis on their food behaviours and food literacy, and in school food environments. Her PhD project explores the food behaviours of secondary school students and the food environments of Australian secondary schools.

She holds a Bachelor of Food Science and Nutrition, specialising in Nutrition and Dietetics and is a registered nutritionist in Sri Lanka. Her undergraduate research involved the validation of a tool to assess food literacy among secondary school children in Sri Lanka. She was awarded two gold medals for her best performance in the Nutrition and Dietetics specialisation and for the best overall performance in the B.Sc. Food Science and Nutrition degree.

Guided by her belief that “science is not done until it is communicated,” Sinali is passionate about science communication. She is a finalist in the 2025 Visualise Your Thesis competition at Deakin University and previously won the 3MT Best Presenter Award at the 8th Undergraduate Research Symposium at Wayamba University, Sri Lanka, where she presented her undergraduate research.