Celebrating OWSD's 2025 PhD Graduates

OWSD celebrates our PhD fellows who have recently graduated with their PhDs and are ready to embark on the next phase of their careers. These women leave their home countries to carry out either a full-time PhD programme or research visits at institutes abroad, often leaving behind family, friends, and jobs to pursue their passions. 

From a medical scientist from Cameroon developing targeted photodynamic therapies for skin cancer, to an agricultural scientist investigating which soil-borne fungi are contributing to rice diseases in Bangladesh, to an earth scientist using drones to make cadastral maps of customary land in Uganda, they are already making big changes to a world that needs their vision, their ideas and their talent. 

We congratulate the new Drs., and wish them luck with what comes next!

Dianah Rose ABEHO, Uganda
Host inst: University of Cape Town, South Africa
Field: ICT/Photogrammetry/Land Administration
PhD project: Automated cadastral mapping of customary land using unmanned aerial vehicle imagery in Uganda

Doaa Mohamed Alamin Abdalla ALI, Sudan 
PhD awarded from: University of Cape Town, South Africa
Field: Medicinal chemistry
PhD Project: Synthesis and mechanistic studies into the cytotoxic activity of garlic-related trisulfides in cancer cells

Lilian Mbaisi ANG'ANG'O from Kenya
PhD awarded from: Rhodes University, South Africa
Field: Bioinformatics
PhD Project: An omics study of a novel Microsporidian symbiont of the Anopheles mosquito and its mechanism of action in blocking Plasmodium within the major malaria vectors

Belthasara ASSAN, Ghana 
PhD awarded from: University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Field: Applied Mathematics
PhD Project: Mathematical model of COVID-19 with periodic transmission

Sayma Serine CHOMPA, Bangladesh 
PhD awarded from: Universiti Putra Malaysia
Field: Agricultural Sciences - Plant Pathology
PhD Project: Effects of a salt-tolerant Bacillus consortium on rice (Oryza sativa L.) grown under saline conditions including growth enhancement biofertilizer formulation and proteomic response

Diddi Hamadjoda DJAMILATOU, Cameroon
PhD awarded from: University of Maroua, Cameroon
Host institute: University of Pretoria, South Africa
Field: Earth Sciences - Petrology and Volcanology
PhD Project: Petrology and geochemistry of volcanic formations of Roumsou and surroundings (Kapsiki Plateau, Far-North Cameroon): Implications on the geodynamic context of the Cameroon Volcanic Line

Lenye Sebenzile DLAMINI, eSwatini
PhD awarded from: University of Cape Town, South Africa
Field: Structural, Cell and Molecular Biology - Biochemistry
PhD Project: Engineering nitrilases for enhanced thermostability

Nanou Emeline DOSSA, Benin
PhD awarded from: University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Field: Plant Breeding
PhD project: Genetic analysis of Striga resistance and yield-influencing traits in tropical and sub-tropical maize

Fikrte Woldeyes HAILU, Ethiopia
PhD awarded from: Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Ethiopia
Host Inst: Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Field: Postharvest Engineering and Management
PhD Project: Intelligent film for fresh cut mango freshness monitoring: anthocyanins with cellulose

Asmaul HUSNA, Bangladesh
PhD awarded from: Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)
Field: Agrobiology
PhD Project: Genetic diversity, pathogenicity and secondary metabolites of Fusarium spp. associated with Bakanae disease of rice in Malaysia and Bangladesh

Julienne IMPUNDU, Rwanda
PhD awarded from: National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (UCAS), China
Field: Condensed Matter Physics
PhD project: Studies on localized ferromagnetism in sp2 carbon nanomaterials

Stellamaris KEMBABAZI, Uganda
PhD awarded from: Kyambogo University, Uganda
Host Inst: Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Field: Food Technology
PhD Project: Characterisation of the physiological benefits of type III resistant starch produced by extrusion in East African highland cooking bananas (Musa acuminata AAA)

Suzanne Hippolite MAGAGOUM, Cameroon
PhD awarded from: University of Cape Town, South Africa
Field: Medical biotechnology and Immunotherapy
PhD Project: In vitro comparison of cytotoxicity effect of different recombinant immunotherapeutics for selective killing of melanotransferrin-expressing tumor cells

Jennifer NAMBOOZE, Uganda
PhD awarded from: University of the Free State, South Africa
Field: Chemistry
PhD Project: Anticancer activity of the crude extracts and isolated compounds from three plants native to Uganda: Prunus africana, Annona muricata and Elaeodendron buchananii

Dorothy Amaleck NGAJILO, Tanzania
PhD awarded from: University of Cape Town, South Africa
Field: Public Health/Occupational Medicine
PhD Project: Occupational exposures and associated health risks among Tanzanian aquaculture workers

Valoise Brenda NGUEPMENI ELONDOU, Cameroon (sandwich)
PhD awarded from: University of Dschang, Cameroon
Host Institute: University of Cape Town, South Africa
Field: Inorganic Chemistry/Solid and Materials Chemistry
PhD Project: Synthesis of new coordination polymers based on some N- and O-donor ligands and Fe²⁺, Ni²⁺, Co²⁺, Cu²⁺, Pd²⁺ ions: Application to CO2 adsorption

Elisabeth Louise NDJENGUE MINDANG from Cameroon
PhD awarded from: University of Yaounde I, Cameroon
Host Institute: Rhodes University, South Africa
Field: Animal Organisms - Animal Physiology and Therapeutic Research
PhD Project: Effects of potassium sorbate (food preservative) and tartrazine (food dye) on the female reproductive system

Bénéwindé Edwige Sawadogo Ouedraogo, Burkina Faso
PhD awarded from: Joseph KI-ZERBO University, Burkina Faso
Host Institute: Université Dan Dicko Dankoulodo de Maradi, Niger
Field: Applied Physics - Energy and Renewable Energy
PhD project: Experimental study and modeling of gas production by gasification of roasted and carbonized raw cashew shells