Dr Brenda Okech’s family fled Kampala for Kenya in the 1970s during Idi Amin’s reign when she was five years old.

She studied in Mumias for a while before the family relocated to Tanzania, where she studied for two years before they moved back to Uganda.

Her interest in science was spurred by a teacher in Buganda Road Primary School in Uganda.

“He made science so exciting and fun that we all really wanted to be part of it — when I would take a seed to school and watch it grow or the many times I was taken to hospital with stomach pains and recovered well. I was fascinated with the subject,” Dr Okech said.

She later went to a Gayaza High School for her secondary education. After her A levels, she was introduced to Dr Thomas Egwang, who would inspire and mentor her in science.

“Dr Egwang was planning to launch Med Biotech Laboratories for research and training. Just listening to his plans got me very excited about his work.” she said.

Brenda pursued a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and biochemistry at Makerere University then joined International Project Company — a firm that sold scientific equipment — as a data analyst.

She later quit to join Med Biotech as a research associate in malaria research.

Dr Egwang, along with Prof Eleanor Riley, a malaria immunologist on Med Biotech’s advisory board, encouraged Dr Okech to pursue post-graduate training.

In 2000, after four years of working in Med Biotech, Brenda enrolled for a masters programme at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

At the London School, she changed her registration to PhD after taking and passing the upgrading examination, with her thesis exploring the way the human immune system responds to a protein found on the surface of the malaria parasite.

A year before her admission for the PhD, Brenda, who was then 27 years old, married Dr Sam Okech.

She had her first born two years into her training, forcing her to take a six-month break to look after her son.

“I had my second baby while I was writing my thesis. It was tough but interesting. My husband and my elder sister, who was living in London, were very supportive. I would not have been able to have the babies and complete my PhD without them,” Dr Okech said.

After completing her training in 2004, she returned to Med Biotech as a senior scientist.

She was soon off to Belgium for a one-year fellowship training on malaria vaccine clinical trial management with Glaxo Smithkline (GSK).

“That was another exciting but heart-wrenching time as I left my family behind for a full year. GSK generously provided two tickets for me to visit my family. Thankfully, there were also opportunities to work in Kenya and Tanzania where the GSK malaria vaccine was being tested, so I got to see my family several times,” Dr Okech said.

When she returned to Med Biotech, they were waiting to test a malaria vaccine candidate but things were not moving fast enough— so she applied to join the African Malaria Network Trust (Amanet).

“I almost failed to go for the interview feeling I would not stand a chance as I was eight-months pregnant. I was excited when I got the job.

"My baby was three months old when we moved to Tanzania but this time I took all the children with me. My husband stayed back in Uganda. Luckily, again, the work involves a lot of travel to Iganga Hospital in Uganda, hence we are able to meet often,’ Dr Okech said.

At Amanet, Dr Okech works as a project manager for GMZ-2, a malaria vaccine candidate developed by Staten Serum Institute in Denmark.

Clinical trials are being undertaken in Gabon, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Uganda. “Recruitment is currently in full gear and it will be a year or more before we know whether the vaccine works,” she said.

She hopes to do more work related to vaccine trials when her contract with Amanet expires. Dr Okech feels privileged to be a working mother.

She believes it is possible, with good support, to balance a career and being a mother and wife.

To young women aspiring to join the world of research Dr Okech said: “Do what you love to do because then even if the work is hard, you enjoy it and the pay is almost a bonus.”