RITA BANDA

Rita Banda has a Doctorate of Philosophy in Bioinformatics from the University of Cape Town, a Masters in Mathematical Sciences from the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences in conjunction with the University of the Western Cape, and a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics from Mulungushi University.

I am a researcher currently supervising Masters of Public Health students from the University of Zambia under the School of Public Health. My primary research interests are in mathematical modelling where I have spent over five years analyzing complex viral data and identifying patterns and trends of viral evolutionary relationships and genomic change in the field of phylogenetics. 

I was never the typical smart girl. Starting off my early childhood education from the village, I struggled to speak English and this affected my performance in all other subjects. I recall being the least performing student in my fourth grade. I also recall labeling the alimentary canal in local language during a test in my sixth grade because I had no idea how to do so in English. To be honest, what sparked my interest in STEM was purely what I can call destiny and my determination to do my very best in what is given to me. Once I entered the STEM world, I was determined to help others navigate through STEM and this led me to establish an organization called Mentorlab STEM INNOVATIONS, an academic mentorship and STEM innovative platform for young people.

My advice for young people: Believe in you, for you can do the impossible. Dare to be different and never let anything or anyone discourage you. Time and chance happen to us all, so work hard, dream big and dare to change the world.

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