Dr Mahtaab Hayat’s first name means “light of the moon” in Farsi. A glimmer of hope in the darkness, it’s a fitting metaphor for the 31-year-old scientist whose work lights overlooked spaces in African women’s health.
Leading the first genome-wide study of breast cancer in sub-Saharan Africa, the Rustenburg-born scientist uncovered risk factors unexplored by global research. Her research, done through the University of the Witwatersrand, revealed two genetic variants that increase the risk of breast cancer in Black South African women. The discovery marked a foundational step in African-led genetic research and brought attention to the urgent need for population-specific health data on the continent. “My sister had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer [closely related to breast cancer] a couple of years earlier, so it was still fresh in my mind. It felt deeply personal — like the universe was saying, ‘Your family has just faced this. Now here’s your chance to understand it better.’”
The study Hayat did is well established in Western populations for breast cancer but not in Africa, and certainly not for Black African women. “It’s important, because you can’t just take results from non-African populations and apply them to African ones. Our genetics are different. African genomes are much older, and that affects how genetic risks show up. So what works in or applies to one population may not hold true in another — even within sub-Saharan Africa. It’s not one-size-fits-all,” she explains.
The findings, based on a study of women in Soweto, are just the beginning, but they offer a critical foundation. Hayat hopes they will one day contribute to genetic screening tools that can detect high-risk individuals early, helping to save lives through personalised prevention strategies. “Imagine being able to walk into a clinic, do a simple blood test, and get a risk score for breast cancer based on your genetics,” she says. “That’s the dream. That’s the future we’re working towards and I hope I am still alive to see that come to fruition.”
Inherited breast cancer makes up only 5-7% of cases, with most linked to other genetic factors. This study focused on those lesser-known risks, highlighting the need for wider, Africa-focused research.
Hayat grew up with four sisters and was the kind of child who never missed an assignment, always raised her hand, and often annoyed her classmates with her diligence. “I was that kid,” she laughs. “The one who said, ‘Yes ma’am, here’s my homework,’ when everyone else had forgotten it existed.”
But while science fascinated her, so did drama, which she took as a subject alongside biology, chemistry, and mathematics. “I think people underestimate how much art and science overlap,” she says. “They’re both about creativity, about seeing the world in new ways and telling stories.”