Improving Health Outcomes in Inflammatory Diseases: From COVID-19 to Rheumatoid Arthritis - GSS 1.0 (3/6) - Marah Grace Chibwana

Graduate Student Series (GSS) 1.0 (Ep. 3 of 6) Marah Grace Chibwana holds a medical degree (MBBS) from the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, and an MSc in Integrated Immunology from the University of Oxford. For her PhD, she was recently awarded the Rhodes Scholarship to read for a DPhil in Molecular and Cellular Medicine at the University of Oxford. Building on her MSc research, her PhD will focus on understanding the factors that drive neutrophil behaviour and heterogeneity. Findings from this study will contribute to improving the health outcomes of individuals living with rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune / inflammatory conditions. As an up-and-coming clinician-scientist in Immunology, Marah strongly believes in the translation of basic medical science research into bedside patient care and policy formulation to overcome diseases and improve health outcomes both locally and globally. She is also passionate about training the next generation of scientists and currently runs a science club where she mentors young people in her country to pursue careers in science. In this episode, we delve into her work on understanding and developing better therapies for rheumatoid arthritis, which ties into her overall goal of improving health outcomes in inflammatory diseases. Time stamps: 00:00 - intro 02:45 - overview of academic and research journey 05:40 - why immunology research? 08:25 - MSc research + implications for Africa 13:40 - current research + plans for PhD 19:07 - overlap between background in COVID-19 and current work in rheumatoid arthritis 20:33 - life in graduate school (typical research experiments; favourite task or activity; managing failures and successes) 30:10 - perspectives and attitudes to life 34:40 - thoughts on promoting immunology research and science/STEM in Africa 43:20 - fun task (what would you have been if you weren't a scientist?) 46:20 - outro