Dr Lyda Osorio says she’s no Shakira, but she may be just as famous in some parts of Colombia.
As the COVID-19 pandemic was escalating in the country a year ago, the mayor of Cali, the third-largest city, decided to assemble a team of health experts to tackle the rising number of cases. To lead this multidisciplinary team, he tapped Dr Osorio, a respected public health researcher at Del Valle University, as the city’s epidemiologist.
They got to work tracking COVID-19 transmission, designing and implementing strategies appropriate for Cali, and conducting research to help improve the strategies and minimize the impact of the disease on the city’s people and surrounding communities.
A few months later, she was asked to join a team advising the state government of Valle del Cauca to help them understand the dynamics of COVID-19 transmission across all municipalities in the state, working with each of their health authorities and epidemiologists. She has also participated in the risk communication strategy and public outreach.
That’s when local media started noticing her.
“Why put a photo of me in the newspaper? I'm not Shakira,” she told Colombia’s El País newspaper in November. “It would be better to use that valuable space for a large image of those doctors working in the ICU, a photo that sensitizes people to the danger of COVID.”
El País heeded her advice and described her as “one of the people who knows the most about the behavior of the coronavirus in Cali.”
Interacting with the public has been eye-opening for Dr Osorio. “This experience has made me realize the importance of speaking out on behalf of communal values and public health,” she says. “It has also highlighted the fact that decision makers have to carefully balance the scientific information they are given with the needs of the communities they serve.”
Influential women scientists like Dr Osorio are tackling deadly diseases such as COVID-19, malaria, dengue and tuberculosis across the world. A new “Women in Science” compendium compiled by TDR, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, based at the World Health Organization, celebrates 15 women scientists working in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, who share their inspiring stories and offer some words of wisdom on how to navigate a career in science.
“We focused on women’s journeys to inspire and invigorate the next generation of scientists and researchers,” says Dr Soumya Swaminathan, WHO Chief Scientist and TDR Special Programme Coordinator.
We hear from Dr Razia Fatima of Pakistan, who says, “Unfortunately, generally speaking, being a woman in research was not quite welcomed in the male-dominated culture in my country.” And yet, with strong support from mentors, she has become a visionary in tuberculosis control efforts, collaborating with the private sector to improve case detection. “Don’t feel alone in your ideas to bring about change.”
Professor Pascale Allotey, a Ghanaian now working in Malaysia, says the difficult career decisions require commitment. “A lot of the gender roles and pressures come from women as well as the rest of society. Make your choice, deal with your decision and make sure you’re comfortable with it.”
Professor Hannah Akuffo, who has worked in Ethiopia and Sweden and collaborated with scientists in several countries including Iran, Somalia, Sudan and Ghana, encourages successful women to give back. “Offering a bit of your precious time to be an official or unofficial mentor to women who pursue work in science is a very important and gratifying thing.”
Read the complete “Women in Science” compendium.
For more information, please contact Dr Beatrice Halpaap of TDR at halpaapb@who.int.