Dr Fanelwa Ngece-Ajayi, a student at UWC, has been selected to be part of the Next Einstein Forum’s 2019-2021 fellows programme.
Cape Town, South Africa – The Next Einstein Forum (NEF) believes that the next Einstein of our generation will be found in Africa. The NEF is a platform that connects science, society and policy in Africa and the rest of the world – with the goal to leverage science for human development globally.
Dr Fanelwa Ngece-Ajayi, a student at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), has been selected to be part of the NEF 2019-2021 fellows programme.
She founded a non-profit organisation called AmaQawe ngeMfundo, which visits township schools and showcases experiments to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
John Maytham interviewed her on his radio show, asking her about being included in the programme. Dr Fanelwa does something really important in the medical/science field; she works with drug resistance and toxicity in patients taking antiretrovirals and TB medicines.
By using metallic nano-particles, she creates sensors which are used to work on blood with HIV and TB. This helps to assess whether a patient needs a medication adjustment. What she does saves lives.
“What we have now is a situation where we have patients who not only die because of the disease which you have but they also die because of the toxicity that the drugs do to their bodies. What I try to do now is [check] if… the nurse or doctor is able to pick up the concentration of that drug within the body.”
She started her non-profit as a way to inspire future scientists of South Africa. He dream is to pass on her knowledge and see young scientists thrive.
“I’ve always been a person that whatever I know, I want to explain it to the next person because I won’t be young forever because: Who is going to be the next Fanelwa? There has to be one, two or three.
“I always advocate that young academics, especially in the area that we are in… go out and educate our young people and share the little bit.”
Her participation in the Next Einstein Forum will help her reach even more people. You can listen to the full interview here.
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