OUR ALUMNI | AIMS SOUTH AFRICA

Brigitte Umutoni, a PhD fellow at AIMS RIC, is turning her personal journey of grief, grit, and growth into a digital solution that is becoming a lifeline for mothers across Rwanda. Brigitte Umutoni lost both parents at just four years old. Separated from her brother, she was taken in by her godmother, a dedicated primary school teacher in Rwanda’s Gicumbi District, who, despite having little, gave Brigitte everything: love, stability, and a deep respect for education. “She’d stay up late helping me with math, even though I hated it,” Brigitte recalls. “She saw something in me that I didn’t.”

Carine IDANI, a Mastercard Foundation Scholar in the inaugural AIMS Co-Op Master’s in Mathematical Epidemiology, is transforming her lived experience with sickle cell anaemia into a data-driven mission to improve health outcomes for underrepresented communities across Africa. When Carine IDANI left her home in Benin to join the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in Rwanda, she brought with her more than dreams of academic excellence. She carried the invisible weight of chronic illness, a quiet resilience built over years of silent endurance, and a heart set on using mathematics to make life better for others like her. Now 25, Carine is part of the inaugural Co-Op Master’s cohort in Mathematical Epidemiology, a practice-oriented program delivered by AIMS Research and Innovation Centre (AIMS RIC), AIMS Rwanda, and AIMS Cameroon in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation and the Africa Health Collaborative. The programme combines rigorous academic training with work-integrated learning, offering students structured internships where they apply classroom knowledge to real-world health challenges. Carine recently began her internship phase, where her skills are being tested and refined in real-time. But her journey did not start in a lecture hall. It began with pain.

Michel Rwema’s inspiring journey from student to postdoctoral researcher highlights AIMS’ impact on African science leadership.