Ms Louansha Nandlal.Scholarship Motivates PhD Student
Hard work and dedication has paid off for 23-year-old PhD student, Ms Louansha Nandlal, who has been awarded the prestigious UKZN Doctoral Scholarship Award.
‘Receiving this award is a huge career accomplishment for me. It gives me a sense of pride and also motivates me to work even harder especially when the end result is this rewarding. My greatest goal right now is to complete my PhD which I am currently registered for at the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine,’ said a jubilant Nandlal.
She added: ‘When you give off more than expected, you always stand out,’ she expressed.
The Medical Science PhD student at UKZN’s College of Health Sciences says her study will investigate the impact of genetic mutations on the clinical spectrum of congenital nephrotic syndrome in Black Africans and she wishes to complete her PhD within a maximum of three years.
She said although she worked extremely hard, she had no idea that she would receive such recognition.
‘During my Master’s degree, I had several setbacks but despite this I never gave up and continued to strive and give it my best. So far I have not encountered any challenges with my PhD study but I do know sample collection, like with most research studies that involve human subjects, is going to be a great task.’
She said Medical science was always a childhood dream for her. Alongside this, she always had a genuine interest in health and the causes of several diseases, hence she decided to head in the direction of research with the hope that her findings would make a difference in South Africa’s healthcare sector.