Gertrude has been awarded The Burdett Fellows Scholarship supported by the Burdett Trust after a highly competitive process where one Home (UK student) and one international student have been awarded. She will study for a Masters by Research (MRes) at the University of Edinburgh under the School of Health in Social Science commencing September 2023.

The Burdett Trust for Nursing was established in 2002 with the aim of making charitable grants to support the nursing contribution to healthcare. The Fellowships have a particular focus on developing research capacity and leadership. The MRes program offers the highest quality of education and development for nurses interested in developing world-class research skills that would ideally position them to progress to Ph.D. study.

Gertrude joined MLW as a research nurse and progressed to work as an Assistant Clinical Manager and later a Research Governance Officer in CRSU. In 2020, she was awarded a Global Health Bioethics Network Fellowship, which was attached to her Master in Global Health Implementation at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences. Gertrude is a Social Scientist in the Community Engagement and Bioethics group supervised by Dr. Deborah Nyirenda, Dr. Nicola Desmond and Associate Professor Lucinda Manda-Taylor. She also works as a Project Coordinator in the Maternal Fetal Health Group (MFHG), and her MRes will be hosted in the Maternal and Fetal health Research Group and will be locally supervised by Associate Professor Linda Mipando.

“I am super excited for having been awarded this Fellowship and especially being selected as an international student amongst all international applicants. So very grateful to my supervisors for their mentorship and for being ever present in shaping my research career journey; I stand tall on their shoulders, and I can’t wait to embark on this academic journey”.

We wish you well, Gertrude!!