AKA, Mombasa Graduate Wins Pathologist Award

Hannah Malik graduated from the Aga Khan Academy, Mombasa in the class of 2008. She always had an avid interest in the field of medical sciences and decided to follow her dream of studying medicine. She is presently in her fourth year of studying medicine at the University of Nairobi and its affiliated teaching hospital, the Kenyatta National Hospital.

Earlier this year, she became interested in conducting research on a specific type of lymph node cancer called plasmablastic lymphoma. Recently, this type of cancer has been showing up in new forms. Together with a private laboratory, fellow doctors and senior lecturers, Hannah designed a research case study and submitted her paper to the International Academy of Pathologists (IAP).

The case study won her the Junior African Pathologist Bursary Award. It was a matter of great pride for a young student researcher to win this award as this was the first time that candidates under the age of 40 could send their papers to the IAP.

In late September 2012 Hannah went to Cape Town, South Africa to present her paper at the XXIX Congress of the International Academy of Pathology. She unequivocally states that it is “thanks to my research skills [learned through the IB] that I had the courage to design this study.”