Tanzanian Professor of Life Sciences and Bio-Engineering, Hulda Swai, has been declared the 2020 winner of the African Union Kwame Nkrumah Continental Awards for Scientific Excellence.
Her work with nanotechnology has helped to study more effective anti-malarial medicines, and through the World Bank, she’s helped to secure millions of dollars to fund African researchers.
“I’m using nanotechnology, which is my training and expertise, to improve the availability of existing herbal extracts which are very potent but are lacking for example solubility,” she said.
Professor Swai’s prestigious award came with a cash prize of $20,000 (£14,000).
During her interview with Focus on Africa, she shared her motivation and passion for the STEM career as well as her hopes to aspire women in the field.
“Science is not that difficult, it’s just a myth, women are as good as men,” she said.
