Kenyan-born science researcher, Sonia Shah, has continued to blaze the trail for younger girls showing an interest in pursuing science-related careers.
Lately, the award-winning Kenyan linked up with Cadence Taylor, a 15-year-old girl who aims at changing the world through pursuing science projects.
In an interview with ABC News on Saturday, July 16, the journalist noted that she was excited to be a role model to young girls, adding that she had limited female role models while growing up in Kenya.
"I've always loved science and (been) curious about how things work. Growing up in Kenya, we didn't really have career advisers or mentors and I really wish I had.
"My reasons for going into science were really driven by interest and I didn't really know being a researcher was even a career option," she noted.
Since stepping into the global scene, Shah has made important strides in research within the industry and is passing down the torch through the Curious Minds mentor project.
Recently, Shah and Taylor traveled to Lady Musgrave Island off the coast off Bundaberg to carry out research and surveys.
"She is honestly a very impressive young lady. It's about that exposure and I wish I had that as a child and it's one of the reasons I participate in this program," Shah explained that she hoped Taylor would stick with science as a career.
Today, Shah works as a researcher based at the Institute of Molecular Biosciences at the University of Queensland.
Her research uses statistical approaches on ‘big-data’ to try and understand the causes of human disease with her interest lying in the use of genetic, epigenetic and genomic data.
"Having a goal to work towards helps me to stay motivated and increase productivity. Since in academia, research output and therefore potential for securing grants is measured by publications, how many papers you want to have submitted for publication in the next year or two is a good goal to set," she noted in a past interview.
Shah is a holder of a PhD in Cardiovascular Genetics which she obtained from the University College of London in the United Kingdom in 2014.
She later followed it up with a postdoctoral fellowship at the Queensland Brain Institute at the University of Queensland.
In 2018, Sonia was awarded an National Health and Medical Research Council's (NHMRC) Early Career Fellowship to investigate the relationship between cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disease using large-scale genetic and ‘omic’ data.
