Food Proteins and Bioproducts Research Lab

Happy birthday Dr. Bandara & Dr. Zhao🎉🎂

Congratulations to Thilini on completing her candidacy exam! It’s a great milestone to achieve in her Ph.D. career!! 🎉”

Food Technology and Research Day at RCFTR was held on November 14th, 2024. Members from the Proteins & Bioproducts Laboratory presented their research work during the poster presentation session!

🏆Congratulations to Onesmus for winning the third place in the poster presentation competition!

And great job to our lab members Harshani, Thilini, Mayuri, Cristina, Tharushi, Manpreet, Vidheesha, Kofi, Shimani, Mariela, and Flavia for showcasing their research!

We are thrilled to share a member spotlight featuring Thilini Dissanayake, a graduate student member of the Protein and Co-Products division. Thilini has been a member of AOCS since 2019 and is currently a PhD student in Dr. Nandika Bandara’s research lab at the University of Manitoba.

Here's a snippet of her journey with AOCS:

"My journey with AOCS began in 2019 when I started my MSc at Dalhousie University, and I have been a student member ever since.

Full credit goes to my supervisor, Dr. Nandika Bandara, who introduced me to AOCS and often shared his own experiences as a student member, highlighting how AOCS helped him build a professional network. His story inspired me to get involved with the AOCS Student Common Interest Group (SCIG).

However, due to COVID-19, my plans to attend the annual meeting in 2020 were canceled, so I couldn't join SCIG (student common interest group) that year. In 2021, I presented virtually at the annual meeting and joined the AOCS SCIG.

Since then, I've presented at AOCS annually and continued to serve on the SCIG leadership team, holding positions as vice chair, chair, and co-chair. Currently, I serve as the Student Liaison of the Proteins and Co-products (P*P) Division, connecting P*P and SCIG. I am grateful to be actively involved with AOCS and look forward to continuing my engagement in the future. "