Vice Chancellor’s Awards for Research Excellence 2023

Dr Kumudini Maddumage is attached to the Department of Performing Arts at Sri Palee Campus. Since beginning her academic journey at the university in 2001, she has dedicated herself to teaching, research, administration, and various academic contributions, building a dynamic career over the years. Dr Kumudini holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) degree from the University of Kelaniya, a Post Graduate Diploma in Education, a Post Graduate Diploma in Counseling, and a Doctor of Philosophy, all from the University of Colombo, along with a Master of Arts from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
Her research has made significant contributions locally and internationally in diverse areas, including the historical foundations of performing arts, sociological analyses of performing arts, studies in school and children’s drama, contemporary art trends, and the integration of counselling with performing arts therapy. Her work has been widely disseminated through numerous articles, books, and book chapters, establishing her as an authority in these fields.
Throughout her tenure, Dr Kumudini has held various leadership roles, including Head of the Department of Performing Arts (2005–2008, 2016–2019), Head of the Department of Mass Media (2021–2022), Student Counselor (2006–2008), Permanent Student Counselor (2014–2018), Academic Warden (2014–2017), Symposium Chair (2021), Research Coordinator (2021–2022), and Project Coordinator of the AHEAD Project (2021–2023).
Dr Kumudini’s contributions have also been recognized beyond her academic community. She received the prestigious Mrs. Vijay Laxmi Chauhan Memorial Award from India for her research in 2021 and the Asian Universities Alliance (AUA) Scholars Award for 2023–2024. Her commitment to community outreach is underscored by her experience as a professional counsellor, where her influence extends nationally and internationally in the field of performing arts.

Dr Ananda Y Karunarathne is a Senior Lecturer in Geography at the Faculty of Arts. where he has been served in various roles. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the ColomboArts e-Journal of the Faculty of Arts, and a member of the editorial board of Social Sciences and Humanities, an Elsevier journal hosted on ScienceDirect. Dr Karunarathne actively contributes to the global academic community as an international reviewer for over seven Elsevier journals, two Taylor and Francis journals, and eight MDPI journals within the European Union. He has made notable contributions to the fields of social capital, social vulnerability, resilience and GIS modelling, including the development of influential models specific to the Sri Lankan context.
His academic portfolio includes over three SSCI-indexed research papers, six SCIE-indexed papers, and two KCI-indexed papers, in addition to numerous articles in local journals. In recognition of the impact of his research contributions, Dr Karunarathne was honoured with the Award for Excellent Academic Achievement by the Ministry of Education in South Korea in 2017. Furthermore, he has received the Senate Awards for Research Excellence (General Category) from the University of Colombo for four consecutive years: 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Professor H M Lalitha Kumari, a distinguished academic in the Department of Social Science Education at the Faculty of Education, has devoted 24 years to teaching, research, and service since joining the faculty in 2000. Her academic journey began with primary and secondary education at Galmatiyawa Vidyalaya, Kantale, and Jayawardenapura Balika Maha Vidyalaya, Kotte, and she has since earned numerous degrees and accolades.
In 1999, Professor Kumari obtained her B.A. Hons in Economics from the University of Colombo, followed by a Postgraduate Diploma in Education in 2002 and an M.Ed. in Educational Management in 2005. She went on to receive her M.Phil. in Educational Management from the University of Colombo in 2010 and completed her Doctorate in Educational Management at the University of South Wales, United Kingdom, in 2021.
Professor Kumari has published extensively in the fields of Educational Management, Educational Leadership, School-Based Management, Instructional Supervision, and Classroom Management. Her contributions include research papers, articles, book chapters, and conference presentations both locally and internationally. She has served on editorial boards, reviewed journal articles, and was Team Leader for the World Bank-funded Third-Party Validation Study on the Enhance Program for School Improvement (EPSI) for the Ministry of Education. Additionally, Professor Kumari has delivered keynote addresses at international research conferences focused on Educational Leadership and Management.
Professor Kumari has been awarded multiple research grants both nationally and internationally. She received the prestigious University of Colombo Senate Research Excellence Award for three consecutive years in 2021, 2022, and 2023, recognizing her outstanding research contributions.
Throughout her career, she has held several prominent roles, including Head of the Department of Social Science Education, acting Dean of the Faculty, Academic Warden, Course Coordinator for the Master of Educational Management program and Sports Coordinator for the Faculty of Education. Her experience extends to postgraduate research supervision and examining research theses for both national and international scholars.
Professor Kumari’s dedication to her students, commitment to research, and contributions to educational policy have made her a respected figure in the academic community, both locally and internationally.

Professor H G S P Hewageegana currently serves as a professor in the Department of Ayurveda Medicine and Indigenous Medicine at the Faculty of Indigenous Medicine and plays an important role in educating both undergraduate and postgraduate students. In addition to academic responsibilities, She serves as an Ayurveda consultant at Ayurveda Teaching Hospital, where she provides guidance in clinical practice and patient care. She has authored numerous research articles and textbooks that have significantly contributed to the academic landscape. Her work is widely regarded for its impact on students, researchers, and practitioners of Ayurveda, offering invaluable insights into both theoretical knowledge and practical applications.
In recognition of her contributions to the field, she was awarded the prestigious Senate Award in 2022 and the National Research Council Merit Award for Scientific Research in 2011. Her research continues to be highly influential, as evidenced by my 337 citations on Google Scholar. This remarkable citation count reflects the widespread recognition and respect for my scholarly work within the global academic community.

The Faculty of Law recipient of the Vice-Chancellor’s Research Award for research excellence is Professor Naazima Kamardeen. She has authored two books, five book chapters and over 25 papers in peer-reviewed journals. She has been an invited speaker and keynote speaker at several foreign conferences.
She is the recipient of a competitive grant for a five-year project awarded by the Dutch Research Council to investigate the legal problems surrounding the retention of Sri Lankan cultural property taken by the Dutch during the period of colonial occupation.
Professor Kamardeen holds a Master of Laws degree from Georgetown University, which she attended as a Fulbright Scholar and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Colombo. She is also an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. She is currently the only legal academic serving on the Law Commission of Sri Lanka, which advises the government on legal and policy reforms.

Arosha Sarangie Adikaram is the Chair Professor of Human Resource Management at the Faculty of Management and Finance. Professor Adikaram is the current coordinator for the faculty PhD/MPhil program and a member of the management consultancy unit of the Faculty. She is a former Head of the Department of Human Resources Management, Coordinator of the Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA), and Acting Director of the Centre for Gender Equality at the University of Colombo. She has served as a Senior Academic Expert, a part-time consultant, and a member of the technical team for the AHEAD project funded by the World Bank under the Ministry of Higher Education. Professor Adikaram has also worked as an independent consultant for the Asian Development Bank on promoting increased renewable energy deployment, energy efficiency, and power system resilience. Before joining the academia, she worked for John Keells Holdings Group HR department.
Professor Adikaram has authored 14 books and 6 book chapters by national and international publishers and has published her research extensively in ranked, indexed international journals, mainly in the area of gender issues in workplaces, human resource management, crisis management, diversity, equity and inclusion, employee voice and labour law. She was awarded numerous awards for her research excellence, including the Literati award by Emerald Publishers for outstanding paper in 2021 and the prestigious CVCD (Committee of Vice Chancellors and Directors) award for the Most Outstanding Senior Researcher of Management of 2022, University of Colombo Vice Chancellor’s Award for research excellence in Management and Finance in 2016 and 2018, as well as Senate Award for Research Excellence in 2023, 2022 and 2018 and commendation in 2019 and 2021. She has also won best paper awards at several international research conferences. She was also awarded one of the ‘Ten Outstanding Young Persons’ of the Year 2010 (TOYP) by Junior Chamber International, Sri Lanka (JCISL), for academic accomplishment and leadership. She also received the international award of ‘Pride of HR Profession’, by the World HRD Congress which acknowledges the best HR Professionals in the world. HRD Congress is considered to be the largest conglomerate of HR professionals from over 100 countries. Professor Adikaram is also a recipient of the Asian University Alliance Scholarship in 2020. She is most proud to be recognized by her alma meta, Sirimavo Bandaranayaka Vidyalaya, on two occasions, for the outstanding service rendered to the country and bringing prestige to the school as a past student of the school.
In addition, Professor Adikaram has been awarded research fellowships from the University of Japan, Japan; International Labour Organization, Geneva; University of New South Wales, Canberra, Australia; and Sri Lanka Foundation and Fedrick Ebert Stiftung. Professor Adikaram has carried out training and provided consultancy on labour law, human resource management, gender equality, and creating safe workplaces, for numerous government, non-government and private organizations including the Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, and Ministry of Power. In addition, she has delivered more than 200 invited speeches and keynotes at various gatherings.
Professor Adikaram was a former Council member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM), Sri Lanka, and a former governing council member of the Centre for Women’s Research (CENWOR). She is also a current member of the education committee and was a former Chairperson of the Education Reforms Committee of the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM).

Professor Pujitha completed his primary and secondary education at DS Senanayake College and graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo in 1996. Pujitha joined the University in 1998 as a probationary lecturer and was elevated in the ranks to be the senior professor in paediatrics in 2017. A practising paediatrician with a special interest in childhood nutrition has research interests in, childhood body composition and growth, childhood malnutrition including obesity and metabolic syndrome, maternal & child nutrition, and effects of early nutrition on diseases in later life. He has published more than 140 scientific papers, 200 research communications, 8 books and 24 book chapters. He served as the Chairperson of the Editorial Board for the development of Health and Physical Education School textbooks for the Ministry of Education. He has delivered 11 National Orations and more than 125 CME lectures.
Serves in several national committees on nutrition, of the Ministry of Health and Nutrition and Ministry of Education, Post Graduate Institute of Medicine (curricular development, secretary and member of BOS in Paediatrics, member and current chairperson in speciality board in Nutrition and PG examiner). Provided consultative services to WHO SEARO and has worked with WHO HQ on Guideline development for children under 5 on sleep, physical activity and sedentary behaviour, and Management of adolescent obesity. Contributed to developing a WHO-UNICEF toolkit for policy-makers to implement the WHO recommendations on food and non-alcoholic beverages for children. A member of the WHO-UNICEF Technical Expert Advisory Group on nutrition Monitoring (TEAM).

K M Nalin de Silva is the Chair Senior Professor and the head of Chemistry at the Faculty of Science. He obtained his B.Sc. with first-class honours from the University of Colombo, and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, UK. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cambridge and Louisiana State University, USA. He worked as the Science Team Leader at the Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology from 2012-2019. He has published 120 SCI research papers, four US patents and two local patents. His present h-index is 38 with over 4000 citations. He won the Presidential Research Award for ten consecutive years and a National Research Award presented by NRC and NSF.
He was also named ‘Young Scientist of the Year’ in 2004 by The World Academy of Science and NSF. He received the Vice Chancellors Award for Research Excellence in 2017 and 2020. He was a member of the National Nanotechnology Committee and Chairman of the National Nanotechnology Research Panel at NSF. He was also the Chairman of the National Committees for Basic Sciences and Technology at the NSF. He was ranked among the world’s top 2% of Scientists in 2022. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK.

Sameera R. Samarakoon is a Professor at the Institute of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology & Biotechnology. He is also the Chairperson of the Business Development Unit, and Chairperson of the Board of Study in Bioinformatics at the same institute. Having obtained his PhD in 2014 from the University of Colombo, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pittsburg, USA 2014. Following undergraduate education in Biological Science at the University of Kelaniya he obtained a Master of Science Degree in Molecular Life Sciences from IBMBB in 2008. Prof. Samarakoon’s current research focuses on the development of anti-cancer natural therapies and the development of solutions for selected non-communicable diseases. He was the first to establish cancer stem cell research in Sri Lanka in 2013.
He has investigated more than 50 endemic and medicinal plants and several traditional herbal formulations for anti-cancer activity in different cancer types. Further, he has significantly contributed to the validation of the medicinal properties of several plants and traditional formulations during the last 14 years. He has obtained several national and international grants for his research. Prof Samarakoon has supervised 28 MSc and 2 PhD students and is currently supervising seven PhD/MPhil students. He has received several national and international awards for research including Presidential Awards in 2014, 2015 and 2016, the NRC merit award in 2013, the CVCD Excellence Award for the most outstanding young researcher in the fields of Biological Science/Agriculture/Allied Science in 2018, Hiran Tillekerathne Special Award in 2014, Award for the best postgraduate (PhD) research in Sri Lanka from SLAAS in 2014, Vice Chancellor’s Award- for research excellence in 2017 and 2020, Senate Award for Research Excellence consecutively from 2016 to 2021, and NSF Media Award (commendation) in 2019.
He has over 75 international peer-reviewed publications and about 150 research communications at national and international conferences to his credit. He has one Patent and several pending. Prof Samarakoon is currently collaborating with leading private industry partners and has introduced some herbal products developed at IBMBB for cancer and other health conditions. Besides he is extremely active in popularizing science and research in Sri Lanka.