A passion for research

Dr Hanlie Moolman-Smook, who is a researcher in the MRC/ US Centre for Molecular and Cellular Biology, is passionate about her job.

If it hadn't been for a petri dish filled with chicken fat cells, Dr Moolman-Smook probably would have opted for an architect's drawing board. But when she was introduced to the idea of the 'inner space'of a cell at an exhibition during university open day, she was hooked - and became a biochemist instead.

Dr Moolman-Smook, who is a researcher at the MRC/ US Centre for Molecular and Cellular Biology, is passionate about her job. "My dad was a journalist and my mom taught me to analyse everything. So I grew up asking questions all the time. And now I'm being paid to do that!"

Her passion has most certainly paid off. This year, she was recognised by the National Research Foundation as being a P-rated researcher. This is the highest rating given to any researcher younger than 35. It shows that the researcher enjoys both national and international standing, and has the potential to accomplish sterling research.

Dr Moolman-Smook has also won the prestigious Wellcome Trust Senior Fellowship - the first time that an MRC researcher has been recognised in this way. This fellowship will generously fund her research work. On top of this, the Wellcome Trust has renewed her collaborative research initiative grant with the group of Prof. Hugh Watkins at Oxford University.

How does she feel about being acknowledged for her work in this way? "I'm still amazed that I got the awards! One always hopes that one is doing really good work, and would like to think that one is doing good work - but it's still a very big surprise when other people also think so!" she says with a laugh.

But more about her work. Dr Moolman-Smook investigates hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), which is an inherited heart condition that affects young, active and seemingly healthy people. The disease was put in the spotlight recently with the death of the 28-year-old Cameroonian soccer player Marc Vivien Foe, as well as that of the 19-year-old Irish rugby player John McCall, who died in a world under-19's cup match in Durban earlier this year.

In people who have this condition, the heart muscle thickens, resulting in the organ not being able to pump blood through the body effectively. But very often there are no warning signs, and patients are quite unaware of the fact that they suffer from HCM.

Dr Moolman-Smook and others in this field have found that the problem originates in the sarcomere of the heart. The sarcomere is a collection of rods, not unlike the cylinders of an engine, which gives the heart its pumping motion. "If something goes wrong with the genes that tell the body how to build the sarcomere, a person can develop HCM.

"If an echocardiogram shows a person to have a thickened heart muscle, we offer a counselling and gene-screening service to their family to find if they carry the defective gene. We can advise them on lifestyle changes and offer guidelines to their physicians."

Her research has also shown that not all patients with the defective gene develop HCM. "There must be some protective factors at work. If we can find out what these factors are, we could advise people even better. If that protective factor is something that can be supplemented by way of medication or dietary adjuncts, the disease would be easier to control."

Dr Moolman-Smook's husband, William Smook, and their two children, Christopher (4) and Simône (5), are very proud of her. "My husband is very supportive. He's an absolute star and not one of those men who goes into chauvinistic depression or reactive bragging because I'm doing well at the moment. The only thing is, my kids tell me that they miss me terribly when I go to work. They want me to stay with them 'forever'!"

She thinks that one is born into the job of medical researcher. "If you like using your 'noodle', like building puzzles and are thrilled with finding answers, it's the job for you. If it's all about appearances and driving flashy cars, better move on to something else!"