African Woman and Child Feature Service

Grace Murila stands tall as the lead scientist in the fight against trypanosomiasis worldwide

She loved arts subjects more than sciences while in secondary school but, come end term examinations, she would score more marks in sciences to her disbelief.

Her performance continued improving in chemistry and other science related subjects in the weekly assessments and, this secured her admission to undertake A-levels.

But to her, this was not to be, for she made an attempt to pursue arts subjects as opposed to science subjects. Unfortunately for her, the school headmistress Mrs MacDonald rejected her request and she had no other option but to weather the storm that science subjects can be and today, she is one of the top women scientists in Kenya.

“My only reason was to do arts as my best class mate friend by then, Ambassador Mary Odinga had joined Alliance Girls’ High School,” says Dr Grace Murila, Director of KARI Trypanosomiasis Research Centre.

Murila joined the then Kenya Trypanosomiasis Research Institute (KETRI) as an analytical chemist and has since risen through the ranks to head the institution that has since changed its name.

Courtesy of her good management and research work on sleeping sickness, a disease that is caused by tsetse fly, Kenya has managed to eradicate the disease that has claimed millions of lives since the 1960s.

To culminate it all, the World Health Organisation (WHO) is set to declare Kenya a sleeping sickness free country later this year.

“The WHO initially wanted to make this important statement last year, but we requested them to hold on briefly to give us room look into the possibility of wildlife spreading the disease to livestock,” Murila explains.

Following this achievement, the WHO has made Murila their international trainer on biomedical research. To date she has trained the United Nations staff in Geneva and at the Makerere University in Uganda as well as in France.

She has developed several training manuals on biomedical research that are currently being used worldwide by various universities and livestock research institutes.

Throughout her career Murila has seen a lot of changes in this area of science as today many women have joined in unlike in the 1980s when she was often the only female scientist attending conferences.

“The number of women scientists in general has increased tremendously but a good number of these women opt to teach in universities,” she observes.

However, Murila is hopeful that since the new constitution has entrenched the affirmative action which allows for a two third majority of one gender including in public offices, the number of women in positions of authority will change for the better.

At KARI TRC, Murila is currently leading research in the mass rearing of maggots that could help in the treatment of chronic wounds in human beings.

The project that is funded by Slovakian Government and the only one of its kind in Africa is set to save many lives upon if successfully implemented.

Noticing her good work, the African Union (AU) last year awarded Murila for her role in basic science, technology and innovation category for her achievement in tsetse and trypanosomiasis research and training. The award included a certificate, medal and cash price.

As a way of empowering women in rural areas, Murila has earmarked her monetary award towards assisting a group of HIV/Aids positive widows in western Kenya who are currently involved in crop farming for their survival.

“Their plight has touched me since I came to know them and always thought of an opportunity to enable me realise their dream. I am happy God sent this cash award my way,” she observes.

According to Murila, the widows had approached her to help them start a regional Centre for Artificial Insemination Services (CAIS) to serve the region with semen.

The group is mainly composed of women below 35 years and they are currently performing errands for people in their homes for survival and besides having a netball team where they meet everyday.

Besides being the Director KARI TRC, Murila is also the principal investigator of the University of North Carolina le consortium on parasitic diseases drug discovery, coordinator of the consortium on tsetse and trypanosomiasis research capacity strengthening for Africa and chairperson eastern Africa network for trypanosomiasis.

Born in Tigoi village in Vihiga District in 1951, Murila joined Tigoi Primary School in 1951 and proceeded to Kaimosi Secondary School in 1966-1969.

She was admitted to Limuru Girls’ School for her A’ level education in 1970 after passing her fourth form examinations and left in 1971 with three principals and one subsidiary pass.

She then joined University of Nairobi in 1972 and where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry in 1975.

Murila went further and did her masters at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom where she specialised on analytical chemistry and instrumental in 1984-1985.

Between 1993-1996, she went Glasgow University for her PhD in veterinary pharmacology and technology.

Immediately after finishing her university studies at the University of Nairobi, Murila was employed at the Government Chemist as an Analyst III and rose to become a senior analyst.

Having taken barely six months at the job, her supervisor by then Mr Nicholas Murangori appointed her to head of the laboratory following the vacancy that was left by her immediate supervisor who had gone abroad for a short course.

Seeing many people from the department going abroad for a three-month course, Murila also thought of trying her luck and she approached Murangori for approval. However, he refused and instead told her to apply for a master’s programme arguing that a three months’ course will not help her in future.

“I looked at the offer and rejected it because my last born by then was only six months old but when my husband heard of it, he encouraged me to take up the offer immediately for he was around to care for the children,” Murila says.

She was encouraged further by the late Sarah Kimori, a family friend who cautioned her that “even if it were death, it would still kill whether she is around or not”.

“My other worry was instilled in me by other friends who claimed that my husband will marry a second wife should I attempt to go out of the country for that long,” Murila recalls.

Strangely, some of the friends who discouraged her from going for her Masters later went for their s many years after Murila had finished her PhD.

“Consultation is good for career development, especially when one talks to the right people, but one must be very careful,” Murila warns reflecting from her situation.

Murila is full of praise for her parents, Mr. Fredrick and Lydia Sabwa who encouraged them to take education seriously.

“Our father would go through our report cards at the end of every term examinations and he never failed to warn us that his duty was to pay for our school fees and never to help us secure jobs,” she recalls.

Throughout her employment career, Murila has never felt intimidated by her male colleagues and has enjoyed challenges posed by them.

Murila is a member of the National Science and Technology Gender Advisory Board, National Health Research Committee, American Advancement for Science, Radiation Protection Board, and Royal Society of Kenya.

Murila, who has also written 20 publications is also a board member of Kapsambo Secondary School in Vihiga County.

A staunch Christian, Murila is married to Mr Stephen Murila, a marketing executive and they are blessed with four children.

As the say ‘like father like son’ goes, for her family, it reads ‘like mother like children’, for three of her children have taken up sciences.

Her first born is a computer scientist. The second born is an engineer with the Kenya Airways. Her third born is a public health trainee at Kenyatta University while the last born studying International Business Administration at United States International University (USIU).

“Nothing is difficult in science, just talk to the right people and not non-performers who are bent at discouraging people,” she advises the young girls.