Category: Profiles

“The GCRF START grant has initiated a beautiful story and this story involves developing African scientists, especially in terms of Synchrotron Radiation Technology and Research. We hope to continue this highly fruitful collaboration for many years to come.”

Dr Ikechukwu Anthony Achilonu, Protein Structure-Function Research Unit (PSFRU), University of the Witwatersrand 

I love teaching and research, especially contributing towards human development through innovative research in medicine and biology. My research focuses on the Biochemistry and Structural Biology of druggable proteins of human Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD’s) and ESKAPE pathogens (Healthcare Acquired Infections) at the University of the Witwatersrand’s Protein Structure-Function Research Unit (PSFRU). I owe my motivation for biochemistry to very good teachers and mentors from an early point in my education.  

I was educated to undergraduate level in biochemistry at Nigeria’s Abia State University, Uturu, Abia State and as an undergraduate, found pleasure in being taught by biochemistry lecturers who were able to ‘self-de-elevate’ and inspire us. These teachers were easy to have rapport with and I was able to extract as much as they could offer, both as my teachers, as well as my mentors and motivators. I remember Dr Okechukwu Ukairo, a young and admirable biochemistry lecturer who taught us carbohydrate metabolism and bioenergetics. His persona as a biochemistry lecturer and researcher enabled him to de-mystify what was a difficult course in biochemistry by being down to earth, but not to be trampled upon!  

Subsequently, I spent four years in Lesotho as an educator, teaching in secondary schools after briefly working as an analytical chemist at Lesotho Pharmaceuticals in Mafeteng. My desire to do my Master’s in Biochemistry was fulfilled, however, at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa, where I gained my PhD in 2008. Working with Prof Heini Dirr at Wits University (March 2009) strengthened my aspiration in Structural Biology and three years later, I joined The University of the Witwatersrand. Currently, I am a Senior Researcher and the Interim South African Research Chair (SARChI) in Protein Biochemistry and Structural Biology.  

When I look back at my career journey so far, it was the experience of having inspiring teachers and mentors that stayed with me to the present day and drives my vision as head of my group in teaching, supervising and mentoring the students on my watch. Therefore, the GCRF START grant with its emphasis on equipping and mentoring the next generation of scientists in Africa to tackle local and global challenges, means everything to me, especially in terms of structural biology. 

African scientists have a critical role to play in the search to solve Africa’s challenges 

“My vision is to see young people rise-up and flourish in the sciences on the African continent and apply the African, UK and global perspectives we share in the GCRF START network to the global challenges we face.” – Dr Ikechukwu Anthony Achilonu, Protein Structure-Function Research Unit (PSFRU), University of the Witwatersrand 

With the START grant I believe we can create a new narrative of excellence in African science and structural biology and fulfil our vision to equip our students in the latest techniques to solve our continent’s health, energy and socio-economic challenges. For example, at the PSRU, we have many gifted post-docs and undergraduates with the potential to go far and make a positive difference on our continent and beyond. I supervise 12 students (four PhD and seven MSc. students, and one Post-Doctoral Fellow), some of whom already benefit from the exposure to state-of-the-art synchrotron techniques at the UK’s national synchrotron – Diamond Light Source (Diamond) – as a result of the GCRF START grant. Often from previously disadvantaged backgrounds and female, these students have attended START funded workshops, have collected data remotely, and are being trained by scientists from the Diamond beamlines. They would love to one day visit Diamond to see a synchrotron for themselves and want to develop careers in structural biology and biochemistry. 

Our dream is that each university in South Africa and beyond our borders will have new generation structural biology, synchrotron and drug discovery techniques taking place as a matter of course. In South Africa, our vision is to include lesser known universities like Venda, Fort Hare, and Johannesburg ensuring that those previously unable to access to opportunities will be able to do so. Already, in just over two years, the START network has grown in South Africa to encompass a wide range of university groups/hubs covering a broad variety of research disciplines to address challenges across Africa, as well as globally. 

Take viruses like COVID-19, for example, we have every potential to be able to produce the targeted, appropriate vaccines and drugs needed for our unique situations. Instead of researchers from Europe and America coming to us to collect samples to take over to Europe/America to do their studies, we could be on an equal footing and able to do every stage of the research right here in Africa so that we are well prepared for outbreaks when they occur. 

In terms of our journey at the PSFRU, the GCRF START grant and Diamond Light Source came at the right time for our group, and for me personally. When I got involved with START in 2018, most of my protein crystal structures were solved in-house using a home-source XRD Wits University commissioned in 2008. However, over the years, the life of the machine started depreciating and we had to look for an alternative light source. Prof. Yasien Sayed, Director of the PSFRU, was contacted by START Co-I, Prof. Trevor Sewell, from the University of Cape Town to champion the University of the Witwatersrand’s Structural Biology collaboration with Diamond as part of the South African broader collaboration with the facility, and because Prof. Sayed and I work in the same research unit, he involved my research in his application. 

The common denominator is science! 

“I know some people say that the priorities in Africa are all about hunger, and that doing scientific research is not a priority but if you look at all the challenges here, the common denominator is science!” – Dr Ikechukwu Anthony Achilonu, Protein Structure-Function Research Unit (PSFRU), University of the Witwatersrand 

We can’t do without the science and the latest scientific equipment in terms of tackling Africa’s sustainable development goals. Take hunger and the goal of food security, for example. We need drought resistant crops and pest resistance; we need clean water sources and uncontaminated land; we need disease solutions for the animals and a healthy variety of nutritional and affordable crops; we need people who are sufficiently healthy to grow the food, distribute, manufacture and sell it. Indeed, some of the pathogens I am working on right now, such as Schistosomiasis (Bilharzia), affect a prime source of food security on our continent – cattle. The poultry industry is another example where multiple pathogens kill the poultry which people rely on for food. Therefore, investing in science in Africa is imperative for the health of our continent and the world.   

However, sustainable sources of funding are needed to conduct world class science.  Even in terms of small things like shipping samples, it costs over 3500 Rand (£160.00) each time we ship our protein crystals to and from Diamond. This would be prohibitive for many science groups if it were not for grants like GCRF START. The fact that START grant enables us to do the experiments remotely at Diamond, means we can save money – we don’t have to fly abroad to conduct our experiments and we speak the same language so there are no ‘lost in translation’ issues! 

To demonstrate some of the diverse and world class science research we do at the PSFRU I have outlined three examples below, which benefit from the GCRF START grant. 

Exploring language and cognition: untangling the neuromolecular networks in the brain 

Dr Sylvia Fanucchi’s research looks in detail at a particular node of interaction that is implicated in Autism. This involves investigating the FOXP family of transcription factors which are associated with language and cognition. Her studies aim at untangling the neuromolecular networks in the brain by identifying the nodes of interactions associated with these proteins. In order to do this, Dr Fanucchi explores protein-protein interactions and protein-nucleic acid interactions and how they influence each other in these large neuromolecular complexes. Through the GCRF START grant using the Diamond synchrotron, Dr Fanucchi can investigate the structures of both protein-DNA and protein-protein complexes. This information is highly valuable in dissecting the interactions within these neuromolecular complexes at atomic resolution and is critical to answering the questions posed by Dr Fanucchi in her research. 

New insights into the South African HIV-1 subtype C protease  

Another example of success is Prof. Yasien Sayed’s research on the HIV C protease¹ – the strain of the HIV virus we have in South Africa, whereby Prof Sayed and his team are the first to solve the type C protease at unparalleled resolution. This is a significant success (pending publication) which has been made possible with access synchrotron techniques at Diamond with the GCRF START grant². This paves the way to repurpose AntiRetrovirals (ARV’s) that are tailor-made for the type of HIV we have here in South Africa so that in years to come, HIV prevention and treatment can be far more effective than they are now. Currently, the ARV’s employed here in South Africa are not tailored specifically for our strain of the HIV virus, which means that the side effects are more than they should be (leading to problems with ARV adherence) and drug resistance. 

Schistosomiasis/Bilharzia – solving the 3D structure of the Schistosoma japonicum Glutathione S-transferase (GST ) protein 

“Access to facilities at Diamond has enabled young and emerging researchers, such as Dr. Achilonu in my Unit to realise their potential by publishing their research in internationally peer-reviewed journals.”  –

Prof. Yasien Sayed, Director of the Protein Structure-Function Research Unit (PSFRU), University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa 

There are several milestones yet to be reached but my journey with the GCRF START grant is already yielding fruitful outcomes for Africa. My publication³ titled “Molecular basis of inhibition of Schistosoma japonicum glutathione transferase by ellagic acid: insights into biophysical and structural studies” is one of those milestones achieved over the past three years. Using I03 & I04 beamlines at Diamond, we were recently able to solve the 3D structure of the Schistosoma japonicum GST protein at an unprecedented resolution of 1.53 Å- amongst the highest resolution in the current global protein database for this enzyme!  

The resulting publication emphasises the need to exploit the unique structural diversity between Schistosoma GST and other human GSTs for a rational approach to design new generation anthelminthics. Without the high-resolution structure of the Schistosoma GST-in-complex with the potential natural product (Ellagic Acid) – which we aim to study for the design of new anti-Schistosoma drugs – it would have been difficult understanding several empirical observations made in our research. Achieving these results means we can now progress further to find effective drug targets, something only possible to the level we need using synchrotron techniques. I am very grateful to the GCRF START grant and Diamond for this opportunity.  

Our vision to collaborate with groups in other African countries is also progressing. One such group is a medical research institute working on Schistosoma in Kenya with whom we hope to have a collaboration up and running by early next year.  Now that we have new insights afforded by the solved structure of the Schistosoma japonicum GST protein, we need to know that the drug target we are investigating is active against an entire parasite – either as a parasite on its own or in an animal. A collaboration with the Kenyan group offers exciting opportunities to explore this. I also have students from Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Namibia who will be joining us next year; and one from India, therefore our group is truly pushing the boundaries geographically as well as scientifically!  

Towards an African Light Source 

For many, the ultimate vision is having an African Synchrotron Light Source on the African continent. However, it may take years before this is possible and therefore, in the meantime, the START grant enables us to move closer to fulfilling our vision to inspire creative and collaborative scientific research and equip the next generation of scientists in structural biology (and energy materials) to use synchrotron equipment and techniques. I pray and hope that GCRF START and Diamond continue this incredible journey with us, long into the future.  

Read more here about the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. 

More about Dr Achilonu 

Dr Ikechukwu Anthony Achilonu is Senior Researcher and the Interim South African Research Chair (NRF/SARChI) in Protein Biochemistry and Structural Biology at the Protein Structure-Function Research Unit (PSFRU), School of Molecular and Cell Biology, Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.  

Publications: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Achilonu+I&cauthor_id=30183110 

“Being a young woman in science, forging my career, can be challenging at times. However, I want to be an inspiration for young African girls and women to know that it is possible to fulfill your dreams and passions.” – Dr Thandeka Moyo, GCRF START Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases and affiliated to the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.

Witnessing the HIV pandemic

My name is Thandeka Moyo. As a young woman growing up in Zimbabwe, my eyes have been privy to the evolution of HIV/AIDS in our country and region over the past three decades. I have not only witnessed the viral evolution (the way HIV is always changing and mutating), but also people’s perceptions toward this viral infection.  Before I reached my teenage years in the 1990’s, I already knew there was a “terrible disease” that could not be named, and which was claiming the lives of people around me. When someone died and nobody freely offered the cause, everyone knew not to ask.

In the 2000’s, things began to change. Antiretroviral therapy was more widely available, and more and more HIV-positive people were living healthy lives. But still, the stigma continued. This raised my curiosity. What is this disease, what causes it, and why is there a stigma around it?

A growing passion – becoming an infectious diseases and HIV research scientist

From the age of 15 years old, I knew I wanted to learn about infectious diseases, what caused them and how we could eradicate them. I had no idea how I was going to achieve this goal of mine except through single-mindedly studying science-related subjects and hoping for the best!

I studied my way through the sciences in high school and successfully applied to Rhodes University in South Africa for an undergraduate degree.  In my fourth year (Honours) I undertook a malaria-related project under the supervision of Prof. Heinrich Hoppe. This was it! This was the first year I felt I was contributing to scientific research, which not only affirmed my love for studying infectious diseases but also my desire to go further and study HIV.

This led me to the University of Cape Town where I obtained both an MSc and PhD in the laboratory of Dr Jeffrey Dorfman researching within an HIV vaccine-related field. Here, I finally got to work on virus I had wished to work on all these years!

One of the biggest problems with HIV is its diversity. We concentrated on broadly neutralising antibodies towards HIV – antibodies which prevent various global strains of the virus from entering human cells and establishing infection. Broadly neutralising antibodies may be the key to an effective HIV vaccine and therefore my research focuses on studying the interactions between these antibodies and the HIV Envelope – which forms the outer coat of the virus. Knowing exactly where and how these antibodies bind to diverse strains of HIV may aid in the design of vaccine components which can trigger these antibody responses upon immunisation.

During my PhD, I had the opportunity to conduct a research visit to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, in the laboratory of Prof. Jean-Philippe Julien. I went there to conduct a portion of my research, and that is where my love for structural biology began.

Mentors and synchrotrons – collaboration through GCRF START

“Thandeka is a wonderful example of an emerging African female scientist. She is single-minded, strives to identify important scientific questions, and is generous with her ideas. She is a natural leader who is already, at this early stage in her career, carefully building capacity in structural biology.”

Professor Penny Moore, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, South Africa

For my postdoctoral studies, I have continued in HIV research but with a sole focus on protein biochemistry and structural biology in the laboratory of Prof. Lynn Morris and Prof. Penny Moore at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in Johannesburg. It is here that I first heard about GCRF START.

As a GCRF START Postdoctoral Research Fellow, START has given me opportunities I could have never imagined. I now have access to a world-class synchrotron, the UK’s national synchrotron – Diamond Light Source, where I can send my HIV-antibody complexes to obtain the vital diffraction data I need for my research – to date I have used beamlines i04, i04-1 and i03. I was given the opportunity to present at the START launch event in Oxford (UK) in March 2019, and subsequently at various START meetings, Institutes and Centres, such as CAPRISA, with whom I collaborate.

One of the greatest benefits of START, however, has been the fruitful collaborations and relationships I have built with South African structural biologists who have significantly aided my career progression, and I extend special thanks to GCRF START Co-Investigators, Prof. Trevor Sewell, Prof. Dirk Oppermann and Prof. Wolf-Dieter Schubert. In addition, Diamond staff have been exceptionally helpful answering my questions and providing me with assistance during beamtime.

Mentoring and inspiring young women in science

“Dr Moyo is a great mentor; she provides practical guidance that has been motivating and beneficial to my professional development. She is inspirational, driven and talented; it is a privilege to be mentored by her” – Zanele Makhado, Medical Scientist at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, South Africa.

I have been fortunate to have found extremely supportive mentors in Prof. Penny Moore and Prof. Lynn Morris at the NICD, who have encouraged my independence and supported me throughout my Postdoctoral studies. Finding mentors and supervisors who are aligned with one’s vision is one of the most important decisions to make in this scientific journey!

The aspect of science I enjoy the most is encouraging the next generation of young women to pursue a career in academia and other science-related industries. I have been involved in school outreach initiatives from my university days which has continued throughout my postdoctoral studies with involvement in student ‘shadowing’ and through presentations to school children. Due to the Covid-19 lockdown, we recently undertook outreach to school children remotely via Zoom.

I am currently a mentor to one MSc student and two medical scientists here at the NICD. All three are intelligent women with bright futures in science. It has been a pleasure working with them towards their scientific goals. Mentoring has taught me a great deal about how to support other emerging scientists and has helped me learn to effectively juggle between working on my own project, while being present to ensure I assist them with theirs.

An end to the pandemic – forging ahead with my goal

I continue to hope and advocate for the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS to be eradicated, even before the virus itself is eliminated! Those infected with HIV can live long, healthy lives on treatment and with consistent use, ensuring that with undetectable viral loads they will no longer transmit the virus to others. An HIV vaccine may be the most effective tool to completely eradicate the virus and therefore I continue to work in this field with the aim of contributing towards this important goal.

“With more people like Thandeka and more programs like GCRF START, Science in Africa can only go from strength to strength!”  –

Professor Penny Moore, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, South Africa

Related articles and websites

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Thandeka_Moyo

Ending AIDS by 2030 is an integral part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Click here to learn more about the science behind HIV/AIDS.

“Working on renewable energy development is not just a job for us scientists; we are assisting both people and the environment to meet important Sustainable Development Goals in Africa, and globally.”

Mohamed Abdelaal, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

In 2018, I joined the GCRF START Program with the support of my supervisor, START Co-Investigator, Prof. Ghada Bassioni. This was the beginning of an exciting new research challenge for me, investigating solar energy by examining the micro-structure of Organic Solar Cells (OSC’s) to monitor how the performance of the cells is affected by their micro-structure under different environmental conditions.  I have faced and overcome many challenges on my path to becoming a solar energy researcher.  My story below explains what has motivated me and how I am benefitting from collaborating with people from the GCRF START grant.

Learning challenges and opportunities in Egypt

I was born in Cairo, Egypt where I have lived most of my life and I love traveling, meeting new people and exploring new cultures, especially when the travel is combined with science and research! During my educational and subsequent research journey, I have faced a lot of different challenges but as someone once said, “The bigger the challenge, the bigger the opportunity for growth” (anon).

Starting with my secondary school education and my first educational challenge! In 2011, during the Revolution in Egypt, all the education in the country was on hold because of the sudden political circumstances, except for those like me, who were enrolled in international education. I was enrolled in British Secondary education (IGCSE) but due to the situation in Egypt, I had to study the complete syllabus alone at home to ensure I was prepared for the exams, which I was not even sure would take place! Unfortunately, online educational platforms and facilities were not possible at that time but despite these obstacles, I passed secondary school with excellent grades and joined the Faculty of Engineering at Ain Shams University, Egypt, to study for my Bachelor’s degree.

My Bachelor’s degree was in Materials Science and Engineering – a double degree program between Ain Shams University in Egypt and the Technical University of Clausthal in Germany. This meant that in addition to the engineering study and research I had to do, I needed to learn German to undertake study and research in Germany. This also meant I had to manage my time wisely to make sure that both the Engineering study and the German language would be completed in time and with high scores – another challenge!  

A further challenge in Germany, was to study the technical subjects in the German language, yet the only technical expressions I knew were in English! In addition, I had to finish my Bachelor studies early to ensure I didn’t miss the submission date for my Military Service once back in Egypt. Unfortunately, due to delays in receiving my Bachelor certificate, I missed the Military Service submission deadline and had to wait for 6 months. Accordingly, I traveled back to Germany and I found work with Mercedes until the next submission date but at least I had an opportunity to learn some new skills at Mercedes.

I didn’t want to spend my military service away from the research I ultimately wanted to do, so I decided to do to my Military Service and my Master’s degree at the same time, studying Materials Science and Engineering at Ain Shams University’s Department for Mechanical Design and Production. New challenges awaited as I had to spend a lot of time traveling between the different cities to attend the exams, because my military Service was not in Cairo, where the University is located. I had to repeat some exams which I missed due to Military Service, but I finished all the exams in the end with excellent grades!

Motivated by exciting new research challenges! Organic Solar Cells

Solar cells (also called Photovoltaics or PV) are electronic devices that convert sunlight directly into electricity. Today, PV is one of the fastest-growing renewable energy technologies, and is ready to play a big role in the future global electricity generation mix by providing electricity on a commercial scale and/or arranged in smaller configurations for mini-grids or personal use (IRENA 2020). Non-renewable energy is not yet widely available but by conducting this type of research, I hope one day that this will change. Scientists like myself are working on improving OSC’s because of their high potential to offer cheaper and more flexible energy options[1]. I am motivated by the fact that one day, everyone will benefit from this kind of research, either directly by producing more efficient OSC’s to replace both silicon solar cells and non-renewable energy sources, or indirectly by reducing environmental pollution. If the efficiency of Organic Solar Cells is improved, then countries like Egypt might invest more money and implement additional Solar farms such as the Benban project in Aswan and other solar energy projects.

Building new research networks and using specialised equipment through GCRF START

My research takes place in the Department of Design and Production (Mechanical Division), at the Faculty of Engineering at Ain Shams University; the other part of my research I do in collaboration with START Co-Investigator, Prof. Moritz Riede’s and the AFMD group in the Department of Physics at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom (UK). GCRF START has introduced me to new research networks and research equipment and made it possible for me to conduct some of my experiments on Solar Cells at the UK’s National synchrotron Diamond Light Source.

In September 2018, I traveled to South Africa on behalf of Prof. Ghada Bassioni to attend a conference funded by GCRF START in Johannesburg. This was a kick-off meeting to help the different groups in Africa get to know each other. Each group presented their research points, progress and future work and I had the pleasure of meeting Prof. Moritz Riede in person and he guided me on my research planning for the coming months. In addition to the technical information we learned during the conference, I met new people from different universities around the world!

GCRF START enabled me to travel to attend the first main START meeting in the UK which took place in March 2019.  At the meeting, with the support of Prof. Ghada Bassioni, I had the opportunity to present about Energy Resources and Challenges in Egypt on her behalf. Then, in January this year (2020) and with the assistance of the GCRF START grant and Prof. Ghada Bassioni’s and Prof. Moritz Riede’s support, I traveled again to the UK but for a longer period this time, and joined Prof. Riede’s group to conduct experiments at both the University of Oxford Vacuum Evaporator (ECHO1) facility, and on Diamond’s the high resolution Beamline I07.

However, opportunities always come with challenges and although the plan was to stay until the middle of April, unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 situation, I had to cut short my visit and travel back to Egypt one month earlier. Now I am facing the next challenge of continuing my research during COVID-19 lockdown! But as I said before, “The bigger the challenge, the bigger the opportunity for growth!”

Without START, I wouldn’t have been able to experience these meetings and conferences, and I have learned something new from each of them. To summarise what the GCRF START grant means to me, I would describe it as great exposure and the opportunity to meet new scientists from all over the world, assisting us in building our scientific network. It means facilitating the engagement with audiences through opportunities to give speeches and present our work. Financial support helps us conduct our experiments, access equipment and travel to attend conferences and meetings.

Commenting on the collaboration with Mohamed Abdelaal, Prof. Moritz Riede from the University of Oxford, said:

“It’s been great having Mohamed as part of our team in Oxford. Such exchanges are essential if we want to solve global challenges like climate change. Among other benefits, they foster collaboration, create lasting networks and enrich the perspectives of everyone involved. It’s unfortunate that Mohamed’s visit was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but we got off to a really good start and we continue remotely. We still hope that Mohamed will be able to visit us again soon, and similarly that we’ll be able to visit his group in Egypt, as these exchanges work best if they go both ways. We are in the fortunate position to be part of the GCRF-START project, which supports such collaborations between the UK and partners on the African continent.” 

Related articles

Read more here about Mohamed’s research

Learn more about Solar energy here and the differences between Organic and Inorganic Solar Cells here

Read more here about the UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 for Energy

Footnote:

[1]Organic Solar Cell Materials toward Commercialization; Rongming Xue, Jingwen Zhang, Yaowen Li,* and Yongfang Li; DOI: 10.1002/smll.201801793

 “From an African perspective, I believe it is vital to inspire young, up and coming scientists. If there is inspiration and collaboration, there is learning, and learning can be passed on. There has to be continuity if science and innovation is to flourish across our continent.”

Sikhumbuzo Masina, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Sikhumbuzo Masina is a PhD student at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, investigating Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) electrolytes for alternative energy solutions in Africa and beyond. From humble beginnings as a shepherd in Swaziland, to a PhD student collaborating with the START community, Sikhumbuzo has reached the position he is in today through talent, persistence, and the inspiration of others.

One of a group of Master’s, PhD students and post-docs who attended START’s Energy Materials workshop at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in December (2019), Sikhumbuzo is part of START’s ‘extended-family’ through his PhD supervisor and mentor, Professor Dave Billing.

For Sikhumbuzo, possibility is the seedbed for ingenuity and it is this, he explains, which drives his desire to reach out and inspire the next generation of science students. This is Sikhumbuzo Masina’s story in his own words.

Humble beginnings

I grew up with very few resources and life in Swaziland was very hard. My father passed away before I was born, and my mother couldn’t fund my schooling. From the age of 12 years, I therefore had to work away from home as a shepherd to raise funds for school fees.

I was fortunate enough to work for kind people who took me into their family and encouraged me to go to school. From the money I earned in my spare time herding farm animals and assisting on the farm, I was able to fund my schooling until high school. 

School became too expensive, however, so the Priest at the local Catholic Church took responsibility and paid much of my school fees through a church fund to support youth; the rest was topped up by a government bursary. I am very grateful for this support.

Inspired to think big – my PhD dream!

I did very well in high school and found inspiration through my two ‘brothers’ in the family I was working for who had been to university. They were the people I looked up to and motivated me to work hard and have a vision for my future.

I would say to myself, “They wanted PhDs and I want to have a PhD too at some point in my life”. I did not even know what a PhD was! However, the fact that I saw and liked what they were doing was very important for me.

After I completed school, I took advantage of the Government’s study loan scheme for students because I couldn’t support myself. This paid for my tuition and accommodation and meant I could do my first degree and finish it!

The importance of being a role model

Given that I have benefitted in a life-changing way from the inspiration and opportunities provided to me by others, I have a strong desire to devote time to outreach – it is something I always hunt for wherever I am. For example, before I came to Wits University for my PhD, I was a teacher which enabled me to save up money for my postgraduate studies.  This has given me helpful experience for outreach events and inspiring others.

When I was a teacher, I would also tutor children from the local SOS children’s village where the orphaned and vulnerable children stay, giving them tutorials in maths and science and teaching them life skills– I wanted to be a role model to them like the two brothers I looked up to as a child.

Raising awareness of synchrotron techniques and GCRF START

This experience I bring to the University’s ‘Whizz Bang’ group I am part of.  Whizz Bang involves postgraduate students from the School of Chemistry and promotes science through outreach events and also school visits to underprivileged schools around Johannesburg.

At our university Energy Materials Research group events, we demonstrate a variety of chemical experiments and use the START banners in our displays to raise awareness about the important influence of synchrotron techniques on African research, especially in terms of energy materials. This is also a good way to bring attention to the many opportunities provided by START.

Investing in future African scientists, research and innovation

I believe strongly that you have to invest in science and scientists for the long-haul. If you train people and then stop investing in training and research, people lose trust and hope, and may give up. Continuity and sustainability is also lost in terms of research programmes.

I think it is vital to get people across Africa on board with GCRF START, including from smaller countries like Swaziland, Namibia and others. We need to establish links and collaborations at every level and run workshops and training. Yes, we don’t always have the instruments needed to get the preliminary data for applying for synchrotron beam time at world-class facilities like the UK’s Diamond Light Source but even collaborating with scientists from these places through a network like START can open up exciting avenues to grow, access equipment and develop the expertise to get the necessary data.

“Workshops enable us to interact with world class scientists who give us more insights into the capabilities of Diamond Light Sources and how we can apply for beamtime to probe the structure of our materials further.”

A continuous, sustainable learning cycle

My own case demonstrates that if there is inspiration and collaboration, there is learning, and learning can be passed on! Even if students like me move elsewhere, we will stay connected because it is an ongoing collaboration we are part of. When I go back home to Swaziland, I carry on with my tutoring. I know it is time-consuming but I feel a responsibility to share my knowledge to inspire the next wave and the next wave of students, so that it is a continuous, sustainable learning cycle.

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Sustainable solutions to the energy challenge – Fast oxide ion conductors for solid oxide fuel cells

Click here to read more about the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

How to join and collaborate with GCRF START

START exerts its influence beyond the students and scientists that it directly funds, inspiring the next cohort of PhD and Postdoctoral students, developing their knowledge and skills, and enabling collaboration that can last a lifetime.

For more information about collaborating with, or joining the START programme contact the START Project Coordinator at: GCRF_START@diamond.ac.uk

As a young structural biology research scientist, Dr Andani Mulelu has already achieved what many dream of happening in a lifetime.  His journey to becoming a GCRF START Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Cape Town (UCT) is one to inspire a new generation of African scientists, showing how UK and Africa can work together to support talented individuals and excellent research with impact. Here is Dr Mulelu’s story in his own words.

Dr Andani’s Mulelu’s story

I was born in the Limpopo region of South Africa to parents who had a rural upbringing under apartheid. One of four children, I soon benefited from a multitude of sacrifices made by my parents to send me to school to get a good education. My parents borrowed heavily to educate us, going without even the basics sometimes so that we might gain from every cent they made.

By the time I went to school, Apartheid had fallen, and I was sent to Zimbabwe to get an education at a boarding high school. Zimbabwe’s education was second to none in Africa and my father, who wasn’t able to pursue a civil engineering career under Apartheid restrictions, gave me the opportunities he and my mother never had.

I had a strong interest in science from an early age – at some point in high school one of my Biology teachers told us about biochemistry and I was instantly hooked! I had great teachers who motivated me and due to changing schools and countries a number of times (South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe), I learnt to study by myself to adapt to different curricula which set a pattern that has benefitted me to this day.  Yet school in a country rocked by economic hardship was not plain sailing. By the time my O-Levels were almost complete, I had to queue for hours to buy food because of shortages at school.

After my A-Levels, my parents had to fund my undergraduate studies at the University of Cape Town, while funding school for my siblings. A creative woman, my mother was not shy of trying new income sources and started a small business selling ‘mopane worms’, a nutritious caterpillar considered a delicacy in Southern Africa. Soon she was earning the same as my father, an engineer!

In terms of my studies, during my honours year I became fascinated by the structure of helical nitrilases, especially those that detoxified cyanide which has all sorts of potential such as cleaning up pollution from mining, and other worthy applications. Nitrilases are helical enzymes that convert nitriles to acids and/or amides (amides are organic compounds containing nitrogen).

I joined Professor Trevor Sewell’s group at UCT for my Master’s degree and my PhD and worked with an international team of scientists located in the United States, UK and Germany. This provided access to ever-improving electron microscopes to visualise our nitrilases at higher and higher resolutions.

The next big milestones took place after my PhD.  I was appointed a START Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the prestigious Global Challenges Research Funded programme at the University of Cape Town’s Division of Medical Biochemistry and Structural Biology (Faculty of Health Sciences). Then, working with Dr Jeremy Woodward and Angela M. Kirykowicz, we were able to visualise the structure of an intact helical filament at close-to-atomic resolution for the first time – the first high resolution visualisation of a Cryo-EM protein structure ever to be produced in Africa!

The findings were published on the 17 July 2019 in Nature Communications Biology 2:260 (2019) and enabled me to finally realise my dream of visualising a nitrilase at atomic resolution and to solve the mystery of substrate selectivity in these enzymes. These results were made possible through our collaboration through GCRF START, access to the state-of-the-art eBIC facilities and expertise at the UK’s world-class synchrotron light source, Diamond.

In years to come, we hope these findings can be used to address some of the main challenges for humanity in terms of health and the environment – solutions which could contribute to meeting the key UN’s Sustainable Development goals through new ways of designing and manufacturing medicines and ‘green’ biotechnology solutions for agriculture and waste treatment here in Africa.

In addition to our successful results, I landed a job as a Research Scientist at H3D Drug Discovery and Development Centre at UCT! H3D is the first integrated drug discovery and development centre on the African continent and I am responsible for providing scientific and technical support in protein expression and purification, structural biology and running biochemical assays to increase the capacity of H3D’s Malaria and Tuberculosis (TB) target based drug discovery programs.

I can truly say that the START program has given me invaluable training and experience in structural biology, particularly in Cryo-Electron microscopy.  Although I am no longer a research scientist with START, working at H3D also brings new opportunities of continued collaboration with START.

On a personal level, the impact on my family and my future ambitions is huge. My parents are very proud of my achievements, and I thank them from my heart for their support. One of my siblings is also pursuing a PhD, and another is similarly inspired to help solve health challenges working for an NGO specialising in water supply and sanitation for disadvantaged schools.

Finally, I am financially independent! I can happily give back to support my deserving parents, and I am much closer to my long-held dream of being a world-class scientist!

Related articles:

https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2020-02-28-biochemistry-breakthrough-for-uct-researchers https://www.diamond.ac.uk/Science/Research/Highlights/2019/Designer-enzymes-on-the-way.htm