Ayesha Sania-Postdoctoral Research Scientist at Columbia University

Episode-3: Ayesha Sania graduated from Dhaka medical college and hospital. She completed her masters from BRAC University and her Ph.D. from Harvard T.H Chan school of public health. She is currently a research scientist at Columbia University focusing on prenatal health. Let’s look into her journey of being the village girl of Laxmipur to designing her career in public health.

Story of a young Bangladeshi girl creating value in STEM

Hailing from Laxmipur, a small town bordered north of Chandpur, Ayesha grew up with her sister and her parents in the heart of nature. Ayesha’s father played a significant role in creating Ayesha’s study habits. He would tell her how important it is to stick to books in order to create her own freedom and not depend on anyone else. She was always meddling with books that weren’t just inclusive to her syllabus but books that shaped her inquisitive values. Ayesha grew up being influenced by the central character of the book series called “The Ayesha Series”. The character represented the power and resilience of a young woman. She placed herself in that very character’s shoes and rode through the imaginative world that shaped little to most of her different thought process.

What sculpted Ayesha’s transformative experience?

Ayesha mastered the skill of when to prioritize classes over leisure, and sleep over study from the phase of struggling with decision making as she was growing up in her conservative household. Ayesha then stepped onto a new city that she longed to explore. She got admitted to the holy cross girls college in Dhaka after completing her SSCs. Although the highschool was confined in high rise buildings, Ayesha soon found herself engaging with freedom of expression.

Started with medicine and ended up being a research scientist?

Although reluctant to go to medical school, Ayesha found her interest strung to research in her third year of study at Dhaka medical college. In her fourth year, Ayesha decided she wants to pursue her passion and make a career in public health. She started giving a real thought about preventive measures. After completing her MBBS degree, Ayesha was vigilant on her way to pursue her master’s degree from BRAC university. She prepared for her Ph.D. for two years, and during her preparation she worked closely with international Centre for Diarrhoeal and disease research, Bangladesh (ICCDDRB).

She was the winner of the essay competition by the global forum for health research and lancet. She then became the editorial consultant of lancet, which is a world leading medical journal published weekly since 1823. Her application and her confidence found a significant boost. She got accepted to Harvard T.H Chan school of global health as a postdoctoral fellow. Few years later, witnessing the allergic reactions of certain foods on her son, Ayesha was curious to research child development. She then got involved with the psychobiology department of the columbia university as a research scientist.

Why did Ayesha re-apply to Harvard despite getting accepted for the first time?

Ayesha has always been a fighter; she constantly fought for things that she truly enjoyed, not what the market demanded. If she didn’t like something, she would find an alternative way. Ayesha was doing her Ph.D. in global health, but that wasn’t what she was interested in. After fighting for a long while, she reapplied to Harvard to study her desired subject; epidemiology, and she got accepted the second time around as well!

What is Ayesha doing right now?

Ayesha Sania is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the psychiatry department of Columbia University in the city of New York, with a research focus on child development. In response to the COVID crisis, Ayesha assembled a team of experts and wrote a letter to the prime minister of Bangladesh regarding the necessary steps that can be taken. She is also contributing to summarizing scientific evidence of COVID issues and measures for Bangladesh. Ayesha believes in creating value to the lives of people rather than settling for a high demanding job. Her enthusiasm pushed her to inspect the real causes, the causes she faced herself, and the causes she saw people suffering from.

This article was written by Fatima Alamgir Apurba, currently in her senior year of highschool.