Interview with FPD 2015 Research Award Winner: Dr Andrew Medina-Marino

Why did you become a molecular biologist and epidemiologist?

When I was doing my undergraduate degree, I double majored in Biology and Race Relations because I always had an interest in social justice but I loved the objective approach that science provided. I studied molecular biology after completing undergraduate degree because the adviser told me that it was easier to go from science into social science but impossible to go from social science back into the lab, therefore I studied molecular biology.

Later I realised that there is only so much social justice you can do by studying protein-protein interaction so I asked what else I can do and the adviser said I should go look at a programme offered at the US Centres for disease control where they teach you how to investigate a disease outbreak and you do the equivalent of a post ARC with them. I fell in love with the work and it was the perfect intersection between my love for science and the bent for social justice and social welfare issues, and that is how I got into public health.

What would you pick as the highlights of your career so far?

The 3 highlights of my career so far have been working at FPD which has given me a great opportunity to expand; the work I did during the Ebola investigation last year and getting my first NHI friend.

What are your current research goals?

My current goal is to publish a lot of papers. My long term goal is to see FPD appearing in the same sentence as other well-known research organisations in South Africa such as the Aurum institute, the WITS Reproductive Health and HIV institute (WRHI) and the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Centre for War and Peace Studies.

What skills do you think have been important to your success?

Hands-down critical thinking more so than any other skills.

What are you most excited about in the field for the future?

I am most excited about the project that we just developed on initiating TB testing in people’s homes. This has never been possible before and if we get the grant, I think it is going to open up a humongous wealth of potential research avenues.

Do you have any advice for young researchers?

Work on developing your critical thinking skills. Study the humanities because you develop a lot of critical thinking skills when you are analyse literature or philosophy or politics therefore get a diverse training outside of pure science. Lastly, don’t be scared to make mistakes.