Synthesising molecules and memories

The best leaders create inclusive, supportive environments in which others are able to grow and flourish. Throw in an interdisciplinary problem – in which the scientific questions fall between the usual silos of, say, chemistry and biology – and the tumultuous rollercoaster of postgraduate life, and you need a one-of-a-kind superhero supervisor to lead the team.

Take, for instance, my postgraduate research group that focused on the bioinorganic chemistry of the human malaria parasite. This parasite is responsible for over half a million deaths a year – most of whom are children under the age of five in sub-Saharan Africa – and so it is appropriate that, at the southern tip of Africa, we should be working on this disease that disproportionately affects our continent.