Mary Katusiime (26) is pursuing a Doctorate degree in Medical Virology at the University Stellenbosch.
Mary was born in Uganda to parents who were teachers and later NGO workers. Her parents’ work involved tackling the issue of HIV/AIDS and its affect on the youth population. This early childhood exposure made Mary uniquely aware of the negative social impact of HIV/AIDS on children, youth and community.
Her parents instilled in her the importance of education making learning a happy journey for Mary. Her childhood was a positive one despite some economic challenges. Tragically during high school, Mary’s mother passed away from a heart attack. This personal tragedy affected her life in more than an emotional way. Finances were tough so Mary could not pursue her dream of medical school and becoming a doctor. Instead she settled into doing a bachelor’s in Biology at a local university. During her semester breaks, Mary continued to volunteer in her community and at hospitals. At university, she discovered her interest in medical virology, specifically, HIV and Hepatitis diseases. While working on a research project, she discovered that she wanted to continue her research in HIV. She then pursued a master’s degree at the University of Stellenbosch. There she was presented with a research fellowship opportunity at the University of Pittsburgh in the United States. Practical lessons learned in the Pittsburgh laboratory was later transferred to her future work in her home country laboratories.
Upon completion of her PhD, Mary has plans to pioneer research in future cure and prevention methods of HIV infection in children. Additionally, she aspires to form a network of female researchers in the African continent who can take leads in their communities and build research collaboration. Mary is motivated about this long-term goal and plans to spend much of her time to host information sessions to get future researchers inspired and motivated to join the cause.
