Kimberley Foster was recently awarded a PhD in Biotechnology (2022) from the Faculty of Science and Technology, The UWI Mona. Her thesis is entitled, ‘Assessing the use of Local Medicinal Plants in Cancer Treatment and the Cytotoxicity Value of Annona muricata in Prostate Cancer’. Kimberley was supervised by Professor Rupika Delgoda (Director of the Natural Products Institute).
As a little girl raised in a rural farming community in the parish of Manchester, Kimberley was always curious about the value of medicinal plants and believed in their potential, as it was always the first line of treatment employed in her household. Her fascination with medicinal plants grew when she was exposed to medicinal plant research while pursuing her BSc in Biotechnology (major) and Food Processing (minor) which was awarded in 2014. Kimberley then learned of the possibility of furthering her education through research in medicinal plants and immediately jumped at the opportunity to pursue an MPhil degree. Kimberley commenced her postgraduate studies by conducting a survey at The University Hospital of the West Indies, investigating the prevalence of medicinal plants use among cancer patients in Jamaica. This, she acknowledged as her most memorable time during her research degree programme, because of the direct interaction with cancer patients. “This experience provided me with unparalleled motivation to identify alternative cancer treatment options,” shared Kimberley. Kimberley immersed herself in doing research she was truly passionate about and went on to pursue her PhD.
Kimberley credits all her success to the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and thanks her supervisor, Professor Rupika Delgoda who welcomed her to the Natural Products Institute and provided the ideal environment to develop her skills as a research scientist.
Besides her involvement in science, Kimberley also participates in several mentorship programs where she encourages young people to pursue their passion, dream big and have faith in order to achieve success.
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Our 7 faculties and 12 professional schools offer more than 200 programmes to some 18,000 graduate, undergraduate and continuing studies students.
The UWI, Mona ranks first in Jamaica among accredited tertiary-level programmes. In 2012, the University was again one of Jamaica’s Top 100 Employers.
