MLW’s Pre-Master intern Dalitso Kalua has been awarded the Joint LSTM MSc Merit and HNTI Scholarship for 12 months and will study Tropical Disease Biology at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. According to Kalua, the MSc Programme has a course structure that fits her career and research ambitions.

In addition to the academic adventure, this scholarship will be an opportunity for her to meet different researchers around the globe for information exchange.

“Getting this scholarship has not been easy. For the help and mentorship rendered by my colleagues, supervisors, and the MLW training committee I am truly grateful. Through the HIV /TB journal club at MLW, I have met different professionals from different educational backgrounds including those from the UK and around Africa which has widened my exposure to research writing and discussions on interventions in TB research.

Through this platform, I have had the opportunity of interacting with fellow interns about their work and exploring similar patterns with mine. As part of my project, I have also had the opportunity to work in a category level 3 laboratory dealing with both liquid and solid cultures. I have been exposed to assays like polymerase chain reaction and ‘Line Probe Assay’ for molecular drug susceptibility testing. All this together has broadened my skills set in infectious diseases control,” said Kalua.

The Joint LSTM MSc Merit and HNTI Scholarships are offered to students on Academic Merit and the ability of students to demonstrate the potential impact of studies on their career.

Dalitso joined MLW in January 2020 as a CORE Pre-Master intern, under the HIV/TB group and was supervised by Dr. Marriott Nliwasa and Dr. Victor Ndhlovu. Her project aimed at identifying resistant Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (TB) strains among people living with HIV in Ndirande, Blantyre Malawi.