By Fatou Saho
The Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (MRCG at LSHTM) recently hosted over 200 science students from ten secondary schools across the Greater Banjul Area for its Labs Open Day. This event provided students with the opportunity to engage with cutting-edge scientific research, explore laboratory environments, and learn about careers in health and science. The initiative is part of MRCG’s ongoing efforts to inspire the next generation of African scientists and promote public health education.
Speaking at the programme, the Unit Director at MRCG, Prof Umberto Dalessandro, said Labs Open Day is so significant that they have to host it every year.
Prof Umberto said there need for such activities to help students build passion for science and reserch.
“The facilities you are going to see today are exceptional in West Africa. There are not many places were we can do the kind of analysis that are done here and I like to mention this to stimulate your interest in reserach and science. Some of you would like to start a career in science, a tough career with a lot of difficulties but if you have the passion, you will succeed,” he said.
The head of laboratory management at the MRCG, Dr Ousman Secka, said: “Behind every medical breakthrough, every life saving vaccine and every public health advancement, there are scientists working deligently in labs just as the ones you will be visiting today. Labs are not just rooms filled with equipments. They are spaces of innovation, problem solving, hope and scientific breakthrough”.
