Sarah — a biology and Norwegian double-major from North Dakota who entered a graduate program in International Community Health at the University of Oslo, Norway — is passionate about her research in mother-to-child transmission of HIV in the Northern Province of South Africa. A 1998 graduate of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, she recalls that the college “emphasized that we have been born into a community.”

“And as members,” Sarah continues, “whether it be the classroom, Northfield, or our global community, we hold certain responsibilities to ourselves and each other."

"My professors were excellent at demonstrating how our studies apply to our lives. We were encouraged to take with us what we have learned and apply it, whether through individual actions, within a community service organization, or in a career.

The Northern Province where Sarah conducts her research borders Botswana and Zimbabwe, which report the highest statistics in the world of an adult population infected with HIV.

“The epidemic is quite young in this province, with the majority of infections having occurred within the past decade, and therefore is still ‘invisible.’ Due to its location, poverty, and the apartheid-inspired migrant labor system, HIV prevalence is expected to rise rapidly,” Sarah relates. Her research now serves as the pilot work for the implementation of a short-course drug regimen (nevirapine) for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission in the entire province.

“With the proper use of nevirapine in combination with adequate and appropriate pre-delivery, delivery, and post-delivery care,” Sarah explains, “we can prevent infections in children and hopefully lessen the devastating impact HIV/AIDS is making on maternal and child health.” While optimistic, Sarah knows there is much work yet to be done to combat HIV and the stigma, fear and ignorance that surround the disease in Africa.