TODAY, AS PART OF OUR STEM MENTOR SPOTLIGHT SERIES, WE’RE SHINING A LIGHT ON DR KUDZAI KANHUTU - INFECTIOUS DISEASE DOCTOR AND DEPUTY CHIEF MEDICAL INFORMATION OFFICER AT ROYAL MELBOURNE HOSPITAL.
Spending your career tackling wicked real-world problems and designing solutions that can literally change - and save - lives is the stuff dream jobs are made of.
As we watch the greatest global pandemic humans have faced in more than a century force governments and schools across the planet race to solve the complex challenges of COVID-19 containment across populations, it’s a great comfort to know that there are experts out there working on solutions.
In fact, scientists, creative thinkers, academics, health and medical professionals and thought leaders are collaborating like never before - unified in the search for a vaccine and viable treatment for COVID-19.
One of those experts is infectious disease specialist and Deputy Chief Medical Information Officer at Royal Melbourne Hospital Dr Kudzai Kanhutu, who says given where the world’s at right now, careers in STEM have never been more relevant.
“The pandemic reminds us how important it is for us to encourage people from all the STEM disciplines to collaborate and build an even bigger, better community to deal with the challenges that face us and the planet as a whole,” she says.
“Any girl who is watching what is happening now should feel absolutely inspired by the world of opportunities for helping restore good health to the planet.
Whether that's the more obvious career choices in healthcare or the equally important role that engineers, mathematicians and technologists play in helping us understand and respond to the chaos we are all experiencing right now.”
“There is so much scope to shine and lead in STEM, the only limit is your willingness to be brave and explore.”
Dr Kanhutu has a remarkable career story and is an inspiration to many, both in and out of her medical field.
In 2017 Dr Kanhutu was jointly awarded the Victorian Public Healthcare Award for excellence in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse care. This award acknowledged her outstanding clinical innovation through the development and implementation of a purpose-built electronic health record as well as a telehealth model of care for remote management of refugee patients. Dr Kanhutu’s current research undertakings are in the areas of virtual care, digital literacy and the impact of housing stress on refugee health outcomes.
A self-confessed health tech nerd she is also a current board member for the Health Informatics Society Australia and clinical reference lead for the Australian Digital Health Agency.
And outside of work, Dr Kanhutu enjoys a number of eclectic pursuits. She is the reigning Kensington Primary School parents’ dance-off champion, and is equally comfortable in the forward pocket doing AFL goal-kicking practice with her kids as she is fronting an academic conference to deliver a keynote speech.
Dr Kanhutu attributes her career in part to her professional experience, but also to the lived experience of growing up in Zimbabwe, and her time spent working in rural and regional Australia, where health inequality led to her desire to apply technical solutions to real-world health problems.
She says her keen interest in the field of science developed from a very young age.
“The interest in science was there from day one,” she says.
“Science allows you to indulge your curiosity 100% and curious is my middle name!
As a child I remember being the sort of person who tried to look inside ant mounds or tried to fit myself inside a fridge. I was surrounded by women who were either teachers or nurses, so a combination of learners and applied scientists really.”
Dr Kanhutu says her current role at the Royal Melbourne Hospital is a “fancy term for someone who acts as a translator between doctors and information technology experts”.
“We do a lot of operational research at the hospital. Operational research is about looking at our own processes to make sure we are doing the right thing for our staff and patients. I find this really exciting because you get to change and fix things really quickly rather than the slower time lines you have in traditional laboratory settings.”
Thank you, Dr Kanhutu, for all you do to innovate in your field, and inspire the next generation of STEM leaders! Stay curious!