Shekha Laila Makan

Shekha Laila Makan is a Medical Officer in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry from South Africa pursuing an MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine at the University of Oxford. They are a Mastercard Foundation Scholar and a member of St Cross College.

Growing up in South Africa, they saw how profoundly access to healthcare is shaped by the systems around it. That sparked a lasting interest in not only treating illness, but in designing health systems that prevent it. They studied medicine at the University of Pretoria, earning their MBChB before completing a Diploma in Mental Health through the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa. They were also selected to represent the University of Pretoria at the 5th KKU International Challenge of Emergency Medicine in Thailand, engaging in specialized preparation that fostered a growing interest in global health and international collaboration.

They currently work as a Medical Officer in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town. Caring for young people with complex mental health needs has reinforced their belief that improving outcomes requires more than excellent clinicians; it demands resilient systems, effective policy, and thoughtful use of resources. During their community service year, they helped refine standard operating procedures after identifying preventable gaps in care and led multidisciplinary ward rounds that strengthened the identification and monitoring of high-risk patients. Those experiences convinced them that redesigning systems can be as powerful as individual clinical decisions.

At Oxford, they look forward to exploring how epidemiology, implementation science, and health policy can strengthen mental healthcare across Africa and beyond. Their long-term focus is to develop scalable, preventive approaches that expand equitable access to specialist mental health services.

Outside of medicine, they collect endurance events with questionable enthusiasm, having completed the Midmar Mile open-water swim and the Two Oceans Half Marathon. Yoga and meditation keep them grounded, whilst an enduring fascination with philosophy and consciousness remind them that the best questions rarely fit neatly within a single discipline.