After graduating from the University of Malawi, the Malawi Epidemiology and Intervention Research Unit (MEIRU) gave me the opportunity to work as a junior researcher. Working as a researcher for MEIRU gave me the chance to manage studies that were based at MEIRU’s Demographic Surveillance Site (DSS) in Karonga, Malawi. This position made my interest in Demography and research in population health to grow. Working with experienced researchers, many of whom were from the LSHTM, gave me the ambition to pursue a career in research.  I knew that my education was inadequate in this respect and when ALN scholarship invited applications for the 2019-20 intake I knew this was the opportunity I had been waiting for.