Rose Leke

"“I had to work twice as hard to get to where I am. It’s not just going to the university to teach, [and] come back home like others do. Being a researcher, an ardent one [who write manuscripts and publish them] takes time … being a mother, being a teacher at the university … that all adds up when you are a woman.”"

"“The pandemic has shone a light on new vaccine research and development technologies.”"

"It can be very difficult for women to do this especially once they get married and have children. A lot of women get discouraged, but I am proof that it can be done! I have four children and yet have managed to pursue a career which has included working full-on with polio and malaria elimination programmes, teaching, and publishing over a 100 peer-reviewed articles."

"“The desire to provide solutions to health problems within my community, and the need to provide sustainable solutions by training younger women scientists.”"

""You have to work harder and you have to prove yourself each time and you have to understand situations that are not so convenient, understand them and overlook them and move on. You have to do that many, many times. I think that’s how I overcame some of these prejudices.”"

"“But when I got into a room like that where there were scientists, I kind of thought of myself as a scientist and I left my woman hat outside so I could just be a scientist with all of them. So that is how I overcame some of these challenges."