Honour for Durban scientist
MEDICAL doctor Verena Gounden was one of 14 young female scientists recently honoured for their research and influence at the L’Oréal-Unesco Women in Science Sub-Saharan Africa ceremony at the Venue Greenpark in Johannesburg.
Gounden, 37, of Glenashley, gravitated towards specialising in chemical pathology after completing her Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degree.
She said she enjoyed the problem-solving components, and working in a laboratory led to an interest in research.
Gounden was given the opportunity of a two-year fellowship in Washington with the National Institute of Health (NIH), the primary agency of the US government responsible for biomedical and health research. It was during this time that her path crossed with Dr Steven Soldin, a senior scientist at the NIH.
Gounden’s doctoral research caught the attention of the L’Oréal Corporate Foundation and Unesco, which have been committed to increasing the number of women in scientific research.
Her doctoral project is about the environmental endocrine disruptor, Bisphenol A, and how it relates to levels of hormones among mother and child pairs.
Gounden, who heads the Department of Chemical Pathology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said she was privileged to work at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital.
“I’m lucky to be working in an environment that has allowed me to grow as a researcher.”