Professor Amina Jindani: the pioneering woman dedicated to eradicating tuberculosis

From Zanzibar to Sussex: Professor Amina Jindani’s extraordinary story

Born in Zanzibar in 1936, Amina was the youngest of six girls. Her father was an aide to Sir Sultan Mohamed Shah, Aga Khan III and he regularly visited the family.

During one visit, Amina’s mother told him how well her daughter was doing in school and he replied that ‘she must become a doctor.’

“In those days, you needed Latin to get into medical school. But no one taught Latin in Zanzibar! So, at the age of 15, I was packed off to an all-girls boarding school in Sussex,” said Amina.

After finishing her A-Levels, Amina went to medical school at the University of London in 1962.

“I’ve always felt like the one that got away. I fell into working in tuberculosis by accident,” she told the audience at the Extraordinary Woman 2025 event.

After working in the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Nairobi and witnessing the terrible effects of tuberculosis on patients, Amina was moved to focus her work on eradicating the disease.

For the past 40 years Amina has conducted international multicentre clinical trials on pulmonary tuberculosis, aiming to significantly reduce treatment time and ultimately eradicate the disease.

On her work, she said: “Tuberculosis can be eliminated. It is a pity that some governments have chosen to cut the funding that is so vital to its elimination.”

Amina’s work has built trial capacity across the world, empowering teams in Asia, Africa, and South America. She founded World Without TB, a charity that has helped teams globally and provided critical laboratory equipment and support.

In recognition of her lifelong commitment to this work, she was awarded the prestigious Ibn Sina prize for Medicine by Muslim News in 2018 and the Princess Chichibu Global TB Memorial Award by the Japan Anti-Tuberculosis Association in 2019.

Extraordinary Woman 2025

Located at City St George’s on the Clerkenwell campus, the Wall of Extraordinary Women celebrates some of the incredible women who have made remarkable achievements in their chosen field.

“It’s such an honour to be chosen as this year’s Extraordinary Woman. I’m still pinching myself,” said Amina.

Speaking at the event’s panel discussion on barriers for women in the workplace, she added:

Sarah Wood, Head of Student Inclusion and Engagement, and Helen Langley, Project Manager in the Change Support Unit at City St George’s, also spoke on the panel which was chaired by Pia Chaffey, Change Manager (People and Finance Programme).

Professor Jessica Jones Nielson, Assistant Vice President (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion), addressed the audience at the event and said:

“Every year, we celebrate those whose work or study has not only been exceptional but has also contributed positively to others, inspiring change and progress within and beyond our university. The Wall of Extraordinary Women is our way of recognising these achievements and ensuring that their stories continue to inspire future generations.”

The event was led by Bhavya Jhaveri, Senior EDI Officer: Gender and LGBTQIA+ at City St George’s. On the success of the celebration, she said:

“It was amazing to see everyone come together to celebrate the contributions and achievements of women leaders in our community and to also reflect on the urgent action still needed to work towards gender equity. The panel discussion highlighted ways that all of us can contribute to this important work and gave us all much to think about in terms of the impact that we can have, individually and collectively.”

Read more about equality, diversity and inclusion at City St George's.