LadyBugz - Adijat Jimoh
Adijat Jimoh - Microbiologist and Bioinformatician; PhD candidate at the University of Cape Town supervised by Dr Anna-Ursula Happel and Dr Heather Jaspan; FameLab SciComm Competition semi-finalist; Margaret McNamara Education Grant grantee.
Interview by Halima Idris as part of the SciComm in Practice SciComm Fellowship created by SuperScientists and STEMi Makers Africa. Interview edited for clarity and length.
Her Research: “I’m a microbiologist and bioinformatician specializing in microbiome research and women’s reproductive health. The microbiome is all of the microbes - bacteria, fungi, and viruses - that live in and on your body. My studies are based on the vaginal microbiome. It plays an important role in women’s health. When there is an invader, for example HIV, there could be an imbalance in the microbial community within the vagina that leaves women vulnerable to other sexually transmitted infections. This research could bring insights into what we currently know about reproductive health.
My research is centered on pregnant women living with HIV. These women are most vulnerable to poor pregnancy outcomes - giving birth too early or having babies with health issues. The role of viruses that live in the vagina (especially the viruses that infect bacteria which are called bacteriophages) remains underexplored, particularly in the African continent. This gap of knowledge limits our understanding of the vaginal microbiome that influences reproductive health.
I’m also looking at bacterial vaginosis which is the most common vaginal condition amongst African women. It is categorized by an imbalance in the microbial community whereby there's an overgrowth of bad bacteria over good bacteria in the genital tract. When a woman has that, it increases a woman’s susceptibility to sexually transmitted infections and poor pregnancy outcomes. In this context, I study whether common treatments like HIV drugs, contraceptives and antibiotics can activate dormant bacteriophages within vaginal bacteria and what that could mean for female genital health.
Her Scientific Spark: “Growing up, my siblings and I had a very kind and patient home lesson teacher, Mr Larry Luka, who tutored us in Mathematics. He would often tell me that I could be one of the greats in science, that I could discover something new and exciting, that I could potentially be a Nobel Prize winner.
That curiosity is what inspired me to keep going and my dad also believed in me and that I could do anything. He has inspired me to keep pushing, be brave and to go an extra mile when I’m doing something.
I always knew that my career would be in science because I was always curious as to why things happen the way they do and given that science is all about facts, that’s what sparked my interest in studying it.
In terms of professional career in science, that evolved over time as I was growing up. At first, I wanted to become a petrochemical engineer because I had a pure love for mathematics. As time went on, I thought I would pursue medicine because I wanted to be in healthcare and save lives but then I eventually found myself studying these little microorganisms around us during my undergraduate years. I then realised that these small organisms are big game changers in our lives. That is what kindled my fire for research, I felt that this is what I could leverage on to help answer burning questions that affect our lives.”
Her Scientific Superpowers: “My technical superpower is the ability to pull out dormant viruses that are residing within bacteria strains. I use some fancy coding skills to decode the viral DNA and then turn them into stories that reveal their secrets.”
Her Heroes: “I always think of one person when someone asks me this question. My hero is my mom. While growing up, I saw her as a strong force in my small family. She owned a small poultry business and she was very successful at it. When I was 14, she suddenly suffered a stroke which impaired her mobility. It was a very sad moment for us but what inspired us the most is how she did not let that deter her, she went through painful moments of physiotherapy for us and that perseverance stayed with me because it’s what pushes me daily. I always say to myself - If she could do it, I can.”
Her Top Tip: “It is a normal human feeling to feel scared, especially if you see something as very challenging. However, do it while you’re scared! It’s okay to fail, but failure is not the end. There will certainly be moments where you lose and those moments will make you grow and you will move forward. Some people think it's all about intelligence but intelligence will only take you so far. One thing that truly matters in your journey is how you persevere and bounce back from any setback.”
Have you ever failed at something? “While I’ve never failed a course before, I’ve been unsuccessful many times in my laboratory experiments. In bioinformatics, I was trying to figure out a bug in my coding. The way that I overcame it is that instead of letting it define me as a person, I asked for help. I also spent a lot of time optimizing what went wrong, but using different approaches and I eventually succeeded.
In all of this, the lesson I got out was that you will fail but that will take you a step closer to being a master. You can’t be a master without knowing that feeling. As long as you learn from your failure, you’ll be fine.”
Why is Diversity in STEM important and what does it mean to you? “Diversity is important because the world is a big village. People come from diverse backgrounds and cultures, and science has an impact on everyone. To me, diversity in STEM means that everyone, irrespective of what they look like, their race or their socio-economic background, has a chance to not only participate in science but to have a voice and thrive and sit at the table. In that way, we would be able to break barriers. Challenges affect all of us, so it makes sense to have people from all backgrounds to have a voice and something to say.“
What characteristics do you need in order to succeed? Rank from lowest to highest. 1) Curiosity, 2) hard work, 3) creativity and 4) communication.
The first thing you need is curiosity because it is that curiosity that inspires you to do research and then hard work because that will require you to be dedicated to the idea that you have and you have to persist and persevere to follow these ideas through to the end. Creativity comes next because you might encounter problems with these ideas that you might have faced because you need to solve all these complex that may arise in your research. You need creative ideas and sometimes you need to go over and beyond in your approach, you have to think outside of the box to address them. Lastly will be communication because with communication, you will need to share your findings to the broader community so that other people can learn from you.
What else do you need? “Perseverance is very key in science and in any field as well. You will always encounter problems but you have to always find a way to push yourself up and continue with the work.”
Do you have a favorite science or nature fact that wows people? “Your body is actually more microbial than human - more than half of your body is not human. Human cells only make up about 43% of the body’s total cell counts while the rest are all microscopic beings. That shows us how relevant the microbial world is to us and that is why I think the microbiome in general is a very interesting concept because there’s a lot to learn and how it affects our lives.”
What are your Scientific Strengths? Collaborations, bioinformatics, and coding.
Advice to young women or aspiring scientists in Nigeria. “You don’t have to be the most intelligent person in the room or the most perfect to succeed. What matters most is that you believe in yourself and being aware that you belong in the space that you aspire to be in. To get to that space, you have to actively seek every opportunity to learn something new and relevant in the field that you want to be in. You should not be afraid to reach out to potential mentors that can guide you in that field. Sometimes, it might feel like the odds are against you but always bet on yourself. Surround yourself with positive, like-minded people, people who uplift you but at the same time, love yourself enough to give yourself the benefit of the doubt and remember that persistence will always win!”
How would you like to be remembered as a scientist and a mentor? “The 1st thing I would like to be remembered for is being kind. I think kindness wins, not just in our daily lives but in the way that we communicate with people. “
Photo Credit
Background image of cells:
Transmission electron micrograph of HIV-1 virus particles (blue) budding and replicating from a segment of an H9 cell (green). Image captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID
See related September 9, 2024 NIAID Now article, "Study Links Certain Vaginal Bacteria and Inflammatory Marker to Increased Odds of Acquiring HIV Among Cisgender Women," at www.niaid.nih.gov/news-events/vaginal-bacteria-inflammati...
Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/niaid/53967477502
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/