Valentina Ndolo
Ndolo is a PhD student in the Department of Veterinary Medicine with a bachelor’s in Biochemistry from the University of Nairobi and a master’s in International Health from Oxford University. Her research aims to identify the distribution of anthrax risk areas across Uganda to help policymakers effectively prioritize disease surveillance and prevention strategies.
Ndolo tutors with the Brilliant Club where she teaches a course on ‘Infectious disease prevention and control’ to Key Stage 5 students. She also founded the STEMing Africa Initiative, a program that supports African female STEM graduates to apply for scholarships at leading universities worldwide. Ndolo highlights that one of the key challenges facing Africans in STEM is the limited number of role models such as professors, highly accomplished scientists, and successful STEM entrepreneurs. This results in low numbers of Africans pursuing STEM to higher levels. However, the numbers are encouragingly increasing, and Ndolo hopes that more high achieving African scientists find time to mentor and support other upcoming young scientists across Africa to create a larger pool of Africans in STEM. |