Idah Sithole-Niang

Idah Sithole-Niang
Born Idah Sithole
(1957-10-02) 2 October 1957
Hwange, Zimbabwe
Spouse(s) Sheikh Ibrahima Niang
Academic background
Alma mater University of London
Michigan State University
Thesis year 1988
Academic work
Institutions The University of Zimbabwe
Main interests biochemist
Notable works cowpea crop improvement

Idah Sithole-Niang (born 1957) is a Zimbabwean biochemist and educator. Her main area of research has been viruses which attack the cowpea, one of the major food crops of Zimbabwe.

Biography

Idah Sithole was born in Hwange, Zimbabwe on 2 October 1957. She attended the University of London, on scholarship, earning a BS in biochemistry in 1982.[1] When she was awarded a USAID Fellowship in 1983,[2] Sithole chose to continued her education, studying plant and virus genetics. She earned a PhD in 1988 from Michigan State University (MSU) of Lansing, Michigan.[1] She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Plant Research Laboratory at MSU researching the genetics of photosynthesis in cyanobacteria[3] on the first William L. Brown Fellowship, awarded by the Resources Development Foundation.[4] Returning to Zimbabwe, she became a Lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe in 1992 on viruses which infect plants. Her chief area of research is the potyvirus, which attacks the cowpea, a legume which is a chief food crop of Zimbabwe.[1] That same year, she married Sheikh Ibrahima Niang, a Senegalese professor of anthropology, whom she met at Michigan State University. They have a commuting marriage, as he works at the University of Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar, Senegal. She was awarded a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship for careers in Biotechnology between 1992 and 1995. She has continued teaching and researching, publishing numerous papers. In 2006 she was made Associate Professor at the University of Zimbabwe.[2]

Sithole-Niang is in favor of genetic modifications to make cowpeas resistant to disease and believes that GMO versions of traditional crops are beneficial to developing nations. Working with the Network for the Genetic Improvement of Cowpea for Africa (NGICA) as a coordinator, she has consulted with other international experts,[2] in part because of the lack of funding available from within Zimbabwe.[5] She has served as both a member and a board member of numerous organizations including: Steering Committee Trustee of the African Women for Agriculture and Research and Development (AWARD) Programme, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society for Virologists, Oversight Committee of the Improved Maize for African Soils (IMAS), Selection Committee Chair of the Joshua Nkomo Scholarships, the New York Academy of Sciences, Vice Chair of the Research Council of Zimbabwe, Selection Committee for the Rhodes Scholarships in Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Academy of Sciences. Sithole-Niang is a Technical Advisor to the Program for Biosafety Systems for sub-Saharan Africa.[3]

Selected works

References

  1. 1 2 3 Yount 2007, p. 273.
  2. 1 2 3 Yount 2007, p. 274.
  3. 1 2 "Idah Sithole-Niang". Nairobi, Kenya: African Agricultural Technology Foundation. 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  4. ↑ Cunningham, Isabel Shipley (1992). "William Lacy Brown 1913-1991: Scientist, Executive & Mentor: He Left a Lasting Legacy to Global Agriculture" (PDF). Diversity (Washington, DC: Genetic Resources Communications Systems, Inc.) 8 (2): 21. ISSN 0744-8163. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  5. ↑ Tsiko, Sifelani (25 September 2015). "Support for science vital". Windhoek, Namibia: The Southern Times. Retrieved 11 November 2015.

Bibliography

External links

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