Capacity building is a key component in the EDCTP-funded TriageTB project. We previously described the structure of the TriageTB mentorship scheme, led by Prof. Hazel Dockrell of the London School of Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), and discussed difficulties and opportunities of long-distance mentoring.
More recently, the TriageTB communications team met with Awa Gindeh, a Junior Researcher at the Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at LSHTM and a mentee in TriageTB’s mentorship scheme, to discuss capacity building in the context of international research projects and her work in TriageTB.
Awa knew early on that she wanted to pursue a career in infectious disease research with a particular interest in tuberculosis (TB). Her motivation to focus on TB diagnostics stems from seeing family members infected by the disease struggle to get a timely diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
“I want to play my small part in the fight against TB by helping to improve the TB diagnostic landscape,” says Awa.
In high school, she majored in science and after graduation, she got a job as a Laboratory Technician at the TB immunology laboratory at the MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM, led by Ass. Prof. Jayne Sutherland. She has now worked in the lab for over a decade. During that time, she has completed a Bachelor’s degree and gained vast experience in working with infectious disease research and different laboratory techniques.
“Ass. Prof. Sutherland’s support and encouragement has helped me develop many critical ‘hard skills’ and allowed me to strengthen the type of ‘soft skills’ that are necessary for creative problem solving and proactive independent work. Even if my work is challenging at times, I feel that it helps put me on track to reach my goal of one day becoming an independent researcher,” says Awa.
She is currently doing a master’s at the Open University and carrying out an individual field project titled ‘Comparison of two Fingerstick blood Point-of-care Test for Active TB Screening’ and her goal is to start working towards a PhD in a few years.
TriageTB builds on research conducted in two previous EDCTP-funded studies, AE-TBC and ScreenTB. Consequently, TriageTB’s mentorship scheme is a continuation of the capacity strengthening activities that were carried out in the two predecessor projects.
Awa has been working with all three projects and began working with her mentor Prof. Dockrell more than five years ago. She underlines that she feels fortunate to be part of a series of projects that have enabled her to receive this type of long-term career support from an experienced researcher.
“One of the best things about working as a researcher is when your research starts to produce the results you are after. I feel fortunate to have been part of this decade-long journey, from AE-TBC to TriageTB,” says Awa.
A summary of what we have learnt from the mentoring programme in TriageTB and some recommendations for establishing successful mentoring programmes
