The 8th Annual Scientific Sessions & International Conference of the Sri Lankan Association for Laboratory Animal Science (SLALAS) was held on 23rd and 24th January 2021. Ms. N.P.Ranatunga of the Department of Zoology received the Best Oral Communication award for the abstract titled “The genotoxicity assessment of Stylissa carteri and Axinella sp. marine sponge extracts by Allium cepa bioassay”.Ms Ranatunga’s presentation was based on her undergraduate research project, which was supervised by Dr Varuni Gunathilake, Senior Lecturer of the Department of Zoology.