ML Personality - The Glamorous scientist: Ify Aniebo

Ever before she thought of becoming a scientist, Ms Ify Aniebo remembers being a fan of a popular diminutive cartoon geek. "As a child, Dexter was my favourite character. He was smart, and had this fancy lab. Now I can make the connection!" she says. Little did she know that she would grow to be like Dexter - a young researcher with a fancy lab, white coat, and a pipette. "If I'm not in the lab, I'm not fully happy," the 26-year-old says.

Ironically, in Ms Aniebo's first year as a ‘Senior' at Command Secondary School in Ibadan, she was placed in the arts class.

"Initially, I didn't mind. I was just happy to ‘wear the skirt' that senior girls wore. But as time went by, I became miserable. Government, accounting... it was so boring."

Ms Aniebo went to her teachers, asking for her results to be reviewed. She was relocated to the science class, and within a couple of weeks she was getting top scores in Chemistry. Unfortunately, this got her classmates into trouble.

"The teacher came to class one day and punished all the other students. She said ‘all of you kneel down! What have you been doing in this class all along?' My mates accused me of reading at the back of the hostel, because I would play and gist with everyone, but still ace my exams."

Enthusiasm and aptitude for Biology and Chemistry clearly came naturally to Ms Aniebo, but it wasn't until A' Levels at Bellerbys College, UK, that she discovered a particular interest in laboratory science.

"That was when I knew that I enjoyed working in the lab. I love practical life science - things that I can apply to my environment."

Finding her place

"In the lab, you have to be focused; meticulous; anal. One tiny bleep and you wipe out months or years of work in a few seconds. Some scientists run mad or commit suicide. It's your life," the young woman says.

Her passion is crystal clear now, but before Ms Aniebo settled into medical research, she considered becoming a doctor, and then a pharmacist. However, one year into studies at the London School of Pharmacy, she found herself unexcited, so she withdrew and went to study Genetics at Queen Mary, University of London.

"In my final year at Queen Mary, I got the chance to work in a hospital and I realized that the appearance of being a doctor is all glam. I loved the lab work I was doing, but not the hospital environment. I wanted to save lives, but not by being in direct contact with illness."

At PHD level, Ms Aniebo was to choose what area of medicine she would devote herself to researching for the next few years. Also, she was encouraged to work on such areas as diabetes and the effects of smoking. There were other issues close to her heart.

"I was interested in studying ‘real' diseases that are prevalent in the tropics - malaria, dengue fever - diseases that actually kill people where I come from," she says.

Ms Aniebo loves research because she finds it adventurous. "I don't know what to expect," she says.

"I treat my parasites like babies. I feed them oxygen and glucose, and I'm constantly checking to see if they're still alive. When they die, I feel like I've murdered my babies. I get so paranoid, that I call my colleague at work to please check that my parasites are still alive!" she says, laughing.

Ultimately her talent, passion and hard work brought her into the limelight as the recipient of two 2010 Future Awards (Best Use of Science and Young Person of the Year). She vividly remembers receiving the latter award. "I was so shocked. My sister was like: ‘don't faint there!'" she says.

"The Future Awards has given me a platform to make my plans happen; it's amazing that in the midst of everything that doesn't work, you can still find young people who are excelling at what they do."

Ms Aniebo plans to move back to Nigeria, hoping that she can continue her malaria research. She speaks of the need for the government to set up research units like the Wellcome-Oxford-WHO unit in Thailand, where she has worked.

"We need to home grow our own talent. Our own local scientists need to work with foreign organizations that come into the country to carry out clinical trials. It's a symbiotic relationship - the foreigners carry out their research, and we get the training."

"I'm not the only young Nigerian in science who loves biology and chemistry. Now that The Future Awards has highlighted science, you'll be surprised at how many young scientists will start to come out of the woods. It sends out a positive message, even to the next generation of children."

The young woman notes that without the support of her parents, she would not have been able to sustain her love for research.

"Many of my brilliant friends have sold out to investment banking because it pays. If I didn't have supportive parents, maybe I would be dancing to a different tune by now."

Not your average geek

"Balancing work and play is something I've always been able to do. My friends say I have a BSc in ‘chilling', but I also love to work."

"At work, my hair is up and I'm concentrating, but at night it's different. In Queen Mary, my school friends were different from my London City friends, and it was like living this secret double life," she says, mentioning her friends' and classmates' shock when the two paths crossed.

The picture of the average scientist is of a scruffy-looking person peering down a microscope, but one look at Ms Aniebo Aniebo shows that she's clearly an exception to the rule.

"I'll admit we don't have many female scientists that are fashionable, but I'm really into the arts. There are so many other things I'm interested in. I could be a fashion designer. My style is a cross between Western fashion and Japanese fashion. I love fashion, but of course I don't take that into the lab."

She jokingly tells of the large ‘no heels' sign in laboratories she's worked in - a picture of heels with a big red bar across it.

Scientist, advocate.

Ms Aniebo plans to launch a health awareness program, which will highlight the simple health and wellness issues that the average African overlooks. The program will start with the launch of the African Health Magazine (which will soon go live at www.africanhealthmagazine.com). Doctors and writers from diverse fields will spotlight health issues, such as cancer and HIV, as well as ‘minor' ones.

"It's about total body wellness - physical and emotional, before anything else," she says. "A lot of things are taken for granted here, like differentiating between preventative and curative medication for malaria, and the effects of misusing one for the other."

For Ms Aniebo, science is life, and as she speaks about it, her zeal is obvious. A strong promoter of healthy living, she reels off a list of personal habits she has imbibed in order to stay fit.

"I even gave up coke," she says. "Coca Cola, not cocaine," she hastens to add, laughing.

Ms Aniebo Aniebo wants Nigerians to "first sort ourselves out", before presenting themselves to the world. There are many issues the young scientist believes Nigerians are desensitised to and pretentious about. She hopes to begin to bring attention to those issues that "no one's talking about".

"Smoking in Lagos is ridiculous. It's very selfish to smoke in public areas and it should be banned. Even with drunk driving, we ignore facts and glorify its victims in death. And sex - right from a young age, youth need to be empowered by being aware of their options. Let's face the facts and be responsible," she says.

Ms Aniebo was recently named in Y! Magazine's Freedom Edition as one of the ‘50 Young People Who Will Change Nigeria', and she shares her thoughts.

"It's great to be mentioned, but it means that now, there's pressure. So I can't announce: ‘Guys, I'm tired, I just want to retreat to the Bahamas for good. Bye'," she says laughing.

However, Ms Aniebo is aware of the fact that given the infrastructural and institutional constraints in present-day Nigeria, she cannot continue to study Genetics. This does not dampen her spirit. For her, it's great to be part of ground-breaking work all over the world, but it would mean nothing if she isn't doing something for her own country.

"Genetics is what I love, and I cannot do that now, but what else can I find to do? Science and health are interrelated, so I will use science to propel health. That will be my goal for the next few years. That's my bit."