Welcome to the maiden edition of our conversation series with our TALENT PhD fellows. In this edition, we chat with Uchenna, one of our fellows from Nigeria whose PhD focuses on health financing in the context of epidemics and pandemics in low and middle-income countries through the lens of social health insurance scheme functions and coverage.. In our conversation, she responds to critical questions around women’s development and leadership in science and scientific research, delving into the challenges women in science are faced with, the significance of their participation in science and its broader impact on advancing gender equality.