Dr. Claire Karekezi

Claire Karekezi|Claire Karekezi (born 4 July 1982) is a Rwandan neurosurgeon at the Rwanda Military Referral and Teaching Hospital in Kigali and a senior lecturer in surgery at the University of Rwanda. She is Rwanda's first female neurosurgeon, and she specializes in neuro-oncology and skull-base surgery. She is a well-known advocate for women in neurosurgery, and an inspiration for young people, particularly young women, pursuing careers in science and medicine. Karekezi was born in Butare and grew up in Kigali, where she and her two older siblings received their early education. She was admitted to the University of Rwanda's College of Medicine and Health Sciences in 2002 and graduated in general medicine in 2009. She trained as a neurosurgeon at the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies training centre for African neurosurgeons at Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco, graduating in 2016, and completed a clinical fellowship in neuro-oncology and skull-base surgery at Toronto Western Hospital, University of Toronto, before returning to Rwanda in August 2018. She joined the Rwanda Military Referral and Teaching Hospital in January 2019 as its first consultant neurosurgeon. She chaired the African Women in Neurosurgery committee of the Continental Association of African Neurosurgical Societies from 2019 to 2023 and was elected to the national council of the Rwanda Medical and Dental Council as secretary of its bureau for 2022–2026. Quotes "...refuse to allow being African and a woman to be a limitation..." TEDxEuston talk (December 2018), as cited on Wikipedia "Do not let anybody tell you that it is impossible..." "Rwanda's first female neurosurgeon urges girls to embrace science" The New Times (February 12, 2019) "...we cannot count on anyone but ourselves." Survivor Of Rwandan Genocide To Be Country's First Female Neurosurgeon HuffPost (May 23, 2018), quoting an interview with The Toronto Star "There is nothing impossible, you can dream big." Dr. Claire Karekezi: The Remarkable Neurosurgeon from Rwanda Women Power Africa External links Category:Rwandan physicians Category:1982 births Category:Living people Category:Women physicians