Dr Melinda Suchard – Head of the Centre for Vaccines and Immunology in the National Institute for Communicable Disease

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, in our series on women in medicine, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Dr. Melinda Suchard who is Head of the Centre for Vaccines and Immunology in The National Institute For Communicable Diseases, with a joint appointment as lecturer in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand. Additionally, she is a ministerial appointed member of the National Advisory Group on Immunization (NAGI), the National Polio Expert Committee (NPEC) and president of the South African Immunology Society (SAIS). Dr. Suchard explains the role of the NICD to support national and provisional departments of health through laboratory based diagnostics, research and surveillance around vaccine preventable diseases, such as polio and measles, with the ultimate goal of eliminating and eradicating these diseases. We discuss women in leadership and reflect on traits of authenticity, positivity, emotional intelligence, self-confidence, caring about your followers and looking at the long run. We discuss how self-limiting beliefs are a form of self-sabotage and urge women to look beyond what they perceive to be barriers and embrace opportunities that advance their career paths. We encourage women who pioneer new fields to trust in their abilities as the lead the way for others. Tune in for more….