Julie Makani, a biomedical researcher at the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) is the only Tanzanian on the list of Africa’s top 30 innovative entrepreneurs in this year’s ranking by a US-based digital media outlet, Quartz.
The US-based organisation stated on its website that Dr. Makani was recognised for establishing the Sickle Cell Foundation of Tanzania, to work on the prevention and management of the disease.
From 2014, the 46-year-old lady is a Wellcome Trust Research Fellow and Senior lecturer in the Department of Haematology and Blood Transfusion at the MUHAS.
She has also been a visiting fellow and consultant to the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford.
In 2011, she received the Royal Society Pfizer Award for her work with sickle cell disease.
Dr. Makani is among ten finalists from East Africa where Kenya has dominated the list with seven finalists, Uganda having two and one from Tanzania.
Nigeria has seven innovators in the list followed by South Africa with four finalists, Ghana has three, while Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Cameroon have two entrepreneurs each in the Quartz ranking.
‘The innovators have been chosen for their groundbreaking work, thought-leading initiatives, and creative approaches to problems,’ said Yinka Adegoke, Quartz Africa editor.
This story was sourced from the News Ghana website.
