Female Undergraduate in Abuja Develops New Breast Cancer Treatment

A female student of the African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, Sandra Musujusu, has developed an alternative treatment for breast cancer.

The breakthrough could offer a lasting solution in the treatment of breast cancer.

This was made known, on Tuesday, in Abuja by the World Bank Education Director, Dr Jaime Saavedra Chanduvi, when his team visited the university as part of their assessment tour of the 10 African Centres of Excellence (ACE).

The World Bank has committed about $10 billion to the ACE project in Nigeria, as part of efforts to encourage cutting-edge research and specialisation by the beneficiaries in specific developmental problems facing Nigeria and Africa.

Musujusu’s research, using macromolecular science, is aimed at developing bio-degradable polymer material, which could be used as alternative for the treatment of breast cancer in the near future.

She revealed that her research focuses on triple negative breast cancer, which is the aggressive sub-type of breast cancer that is common with women from African ancestry.

Musujusu, a Sierra-Leonian, is conducting the research under the sponsorship of the Pan African Materials Institute (PAMI).

Musujusu said: “My research is actually centred on the development of bio-degradable polymers for treatment of breast cancer. I will be focusing on triple negative breast cancer, which is actually the aggressive sub-type of breast cancer that is common with women from African ancestry.

“I believe there is a bright future for Africa, and as a woman there is much more we can do if we are empowered. This award given to me by PAMI has empowered me to face my studies with more confidence and actually contribute to the frontier of knowledge and move Africa forward.”