Thilini is originally from Sri Lanka who grew up in Sweden and moved to Chapel Hill, NC when she was 10. Thilini is a sophomore at UNC majoring in Biology with minors in Medical Anthropology and Chemistry. UNC afforded her the opportunity to take a gap year before college through the Global Gap Year Fellowship. During her year off, she lived and served in Sri Lanka, Madagascar and Greece. Additionally, she back-packed around Europe. After college, she also received a UNC Campus Y grant, the GEF, in order to conduct community-based research on the efficacy of an organization which targets barriers to health in Northern Uganda called NUMEN. She hopes to continue her global engagement, pursuing a PHD in global and Maternal health.