Research Assistant

Thilini Weerakkody

Home: ** ******* **. ****** ****, NC 27514

Phone: 919-***-**** E-Mail: *******@****.***.*** Website: www.thilini.page

Education

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Undergraduate May 2021

• Major: Human Development and Family Studies

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Graduate May 2023

• Master’s in clinical Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling Honors

• Honor of the Golden Fleece: The oldest and highest honorary society at UNC. The Order selects members based upon service to the university as reflected in scholarship, motivation, creativity, loyalty, and

leadership in academic and extracurricular pursuits.

• Eve Carson Scholarship: A prestigious scholarship awarded to juniors who have displayed outstanding

leadership, service, and scholarship at UNC. Students are offered a full-ride their senior year and a funded summer experience.

• Bonner Leadership Program: A competitive

fellowship awarded to 15 first years, which fosters a 4- year relationship with a community partnership

• Virginia Carson Scholarship: A scholarship funding a self-designed summer experience.

• UNC Global Gap Year Fellowship: A highly

competitive fellowship, which awards a funded, self- designed gap year to six incoming UNC first-years.

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Leadership & Experience

Pre-School Literacy Research November 2020-May 2021 Research Assistant

• Support a research study exploring literacy of youth and the manifestations of learning disabilities, particularly in minority youth.

• Utilize and apply more than fifteen developmentally appropriate psychological assessments to over 135 pre-school youth to measure literacy and identify disability.

• Attend youth and family informational sessions.

• Engage in youth literacy intervention sessions where youth are supported in improving their literacy.

• Input data.

Adolescent Anxiety and Mental Health Amidst COVID-19 Research November 2020-May 2021 Research Assistant

• Support a research study on more than a hundred teenagers about the teen response to COVID-19 through physiological, psychological, and mood profile assessments.

• Contact families to schedule a non-contact drop off of saliva kits which will be used to measure brain connectivity and organization.

• Aid in participants navigating an online COVID-19 survey.

• Aid in the analysis of brain imaging or neuroimaging data. Cross Campus Coalition September 2020- May 2021

Team Lead

• Lead a team of five UNC-Chapel Hill students who aim to connect activists from all seventeen universities within the UNC systems in order to hold Peter Hans, the UNC System president and the BOG, the board of governors, accountable for actions concerning racism, sexual assault, equity, and more.

• Lead protests, boycotts, informational sessions and other events to hold our leaders accountable in a COVID-19 safe manner.

• Organize meetings and act as a mentor for rising activists. Birth Partner’s Doula September 2020- September 2021 Prenatal, Birth, and Postpartum Doula

• Create a birth plan with mothers.

• Teach and practice distress tolerance, motivational interviewing, and reflection with mothers.

• Incorporate restorative practices of aromatherapy, music, and meditation into daily living.

• Offer information and advice about pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, and infant care.

• Provide comfort and care to mothers and babies both emotionally and physically.

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Campus Y Executive Board March 2020-April 2021

Co-President

• Serve as representatives, advocates, and student decision-makers for the Y both internally and within the Chapel Hill community, which includes other student organizations, university faculty, administration, and local community partners in wider Chapel Hill/Carrboro.

• Appoint directors of outreach, communication, evaluations, development, finance, cabinet and executive assistant which compose the 15-person Campus Y Executive Board.

• Act as the leaders of the Executive Board; acting as a liaison between staff, students, and the campus community in order to conduct daily operations at the Y and further the long-term goals of Campus Y leadership.

• Represent and voice the interests and concerns of the Executive Board, Cabinet, and 2500+ students involved in Y programs to external stakeholders and community members.

Grow Your World- Chapel Hill, NC September 2019-September 2020 Equity and Resilience Team Lead

• Lead team of individuals dedicated to evaluating Grow Your Worlds lessons, programs, and structure through a racial equity and resiliency lens.

• Provide consultation during staff recruitment in order to promote diversity and inclusion.

• Organize and conduct trainings for staff and youth around racial equity, restorative practices, gender bias, wellness, trauma- informed practice, communication skills, and emotional literacy. Campus Y Global Gap Year Fellowship- Chapel Hill, NC March 2019-August 2019 Global Intern

• Redesign and edit Serve Smart, an online course on how to conduct empathetic, ethical service abroad.

• Organize logistics for workshops, events, catering and programs for incoming fellows to plan their gap years.

• Lead workshops and activities such as “How to Be a Woman or a Woman of Color Abroad” and “How to Serve Vulnerable Communities.”

Campus Y Executive Board- Chapel Hill, NC March 2018-March 2019 Co-Director of Outreach

• Sit on the Executive Board of the Campus Y, UNC’s center for social justice.

• Create safe spaces for students and staff.

• Organize events and projects to educate our community and promote social justice.

• Foster collaboration and collations between organizations within the Campus Y, at UNC, and in our Community. Global Circle- Chapel Hill, NC May 2018 -May 2019

Chair

• Promote global engagement at UNC through organizing events and workshops.

• Evaluate and mandate ethical, sustainable global service.

• Create connections between globally-oriented Campus Y committees and UNC organizations. RENA Center- Chapel Hill, NC

Bonner Leader Intern September 2017-May 2019

• Attend weekly skills development and leadership workshops.

• Attend RENA center board meetings.

• Write grants, organize events, and provide service to the RENA Center.

• Teach and supervise the children at the RENA Community Center. NUMEM- Pader, Uganda December 2017-August 2018

Intern

• Conduct community-based research on the efficacy of NUMEM’s LARO KWO Project.

• Collect health data on the efficacy of NUMEM’s LARO KWO Project.

• Produce an evaluation of NUMEM’s LARO KWO Project including data analysis, achievements, highlighted concerns, and recommendations to target health disparities in the Pader District.

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UNC Wordsmiths- Chapel Hill, NC September 2017- October 2018 Member of RESPO, a performance team, and management

• Write, practice and perform poetry.

• Organize and lead writing workshops.

• Photograph, fundraise and organize Wordsmiths events. Kidzu Children’s Museum- Chapel Hill, NC June 2015- July 2018 Makery Fellow and Programs (Girls Engineering Change Biomedical Engineering Program)

• Work with preparation, execution, and clean-up of activities.

• Supervise/interact/engage with children.

WWOOFing Greece- Nostimo Village and Lipsos Island, Greece March 2017-May 2017 Volunteer

• Assisted in farm work, crop cultivation, and meal preparation. Conservation Fusion- Kianjavato and Antananarivo, Madagascar January 2017- March 2017 Intern

• Work with public relations and media management.

• Help with organization and execution of educational and community programs.

• Create and coordinate a program on one health and an ecotourism guide for Malagasy tour guides. Duke-Ruhana Study October 2016-January 2017

Intern

• Conduct research on antibacterial resistance in mothers and babies, Galle, Sri Lanka.

• Collect urine and rectal samples of mothers and newborn babies at the Mahamodara Maternal Health hospital.

• Help process and culture bacteria for research.

District Epidemiological Study- Negombo, Sri Lanka September 2016-October 2016 Research Assistant

• Shadow a regional epidemiologist of the Putlam district in a study on Dengue Fever.

• Help collect qualitative data on the efficacy of Dengue Fever intervention programs enacted by the government.

• Conduct research on the framework of the Sri Lankan healthcare system and public health intervention programs. Skills

• “We Are” Trained; a training to navigate race and class in educational settings

• “Darkness to Light” Trained; a training equipping individuals to identify and support victims of childhood sexual assault

• “School to Peace Pipeline” Certified; a certification through Carolina Friends School discussing race and restorative justice

• Certified Pre-natal, Post-natal, and Birthing Doula; a certification to guide a birthing person throughout childbirth

• “Safe Zone” Certified; a certification equipping participants with the vocab and resources to support LGBTQAI2+ folx

• “Embody Carolina” Trained; a training to support individuals with eating disorders

• “Motivational Interviewing” Certified; a certification offered by UNC on how to conduct motivational interviewing

• Certified Wilderness First Responder; a certification equipping individuals to act as medical responders in the wilderness

• Fluent in Sinhala (speaking/hearing), Proficient in French, Basic

• 8 years playing Violin

• Proficient in Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint & iMovie

Contact this candidate