Ever wondered why certain malaria drugs stop working for you after some time ? Why do the parasites in your system develop resistance to these drugs and treating yourself from malaria requires new medication? Our students have been exploring these questions for the last three weeks with the German Mathematical Biology professor, Kristan Schneider, who was visiting AIMS-Cameroon for the fifth time and teaching the course on Mathematical Population Genetics. 

The fundamental concepts around the course use the notions of markovian processes and calculus to translate into mathematical jargon the phenomena that govern  the genetic mutation of parasites and champions the development of drug resistance in human biological systems. 

With more than half the students in this year’s cohort choosing to explore this side of mathematics with Kristan, we edged closer to keeping our promise to help our students discover new and intriguing sides of mathematics and experience first hand how useful mathematics can be for policy advisory and public health in general. 

In his farewell remarks, the Austrian born German Professor urged the students to stay the course of mathematics and see their dreams through, admitting that it is and always will be challenging and slow but very much worth it. ‘’The progress may sometimes be invisible but believe you will see the results in a few years from now” he said. 

It is for experiences like these and the promise of a tomorrow which improves today that we continue to open the doors of campus to dreamers, and it is thus with the hopes of these dreamers and the responsibilities they shoulder, that we say a hearty thank you to Kristan and all who made this learning experience worthwhile.