5Q4 > A Young Scientist of the Year

Julene Kapao talks to Dianne Sika- Paotonu, winner of the "Advancing Human Health and Wellbeing" category of the 2008 MacDiarmid Young Scientist of the Year Awards in New Zealand. Dianne’s also president of the Adventist Students Association New Zealand (ASANZ).

1 What ways have you seen God lead in your life? > In many different ways. In fact, winning this award is one example. Upon meeting some of the other finalists after the stage three judging presentations, I saw quite clearly that God had led me thus far. Some of the work these other scientist and doctors were doing was absolutely amazing. Although I was thrilled to have made it through to the final round of the competition, I never thought I might actually win. Once I had been told I’d won, I knew God must have a reason for it. It would now be my job to use the opportunity as another avenue to reach out to others and let them know about Jesus, His sacrifice for them and His soon return.

2 Tell us more about the award you received. > The award was for my work on improving dendritic cell-based vaccines for the treatment of cancer. [Dianne is a PhD student at the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research at Victoria University of Wellington.] These awards are named after New Zealand-born Nobel laureate Professor Alan MacDiarmid, and are considered the most prestigious awards given to New Zealand’s emerging scientists and researchers.

3 In what ways has your faith been challenged or tested as a young scientist? > Obviously, my belief in Creation has been difficult for some to accept but nevertheless, I have found once people know where you stand on the Creation/ evolution debate, most will respect your beliefs as long as you stand firm. When you waver and act unsure or embarrassed about being a Christian, people are more likely to doubt what you have to say and are less likely to respect you. Of course, there will always be people who choose not to appreciate your input or beliefs no matter what you do but that’s part of being a Christian—learning to stand in faith and trust God’s got your back, no matter what happens. I do remember a close friend and I were trying to decide how to witness to our friends in our biochemistry class when we both came to the conclusion that people were probably not going to listen to us, since we were always the last to class, handing in assignments late and asking for extensions. We realised that in order for God to bless our efforts to reach others and have some sort of influence with our classmates, we needed to work hard and study hard. We were hardly going to be taken seriously if we were skipping lectures all the time.

4 How do ASANZ, science and mission connect in your life? > God calls us to serve Him no matter what our vocation in life—this includes the scientific environment, if one finds themselves studying or researching in this capacity. This opens new opportunities to witness for God. As ASANZ president, I hope this might inspire and motivate our Adventist university students studying at secular campuses throughout New Zealand to remember that not only are we to serve Him first and foremost but that He expects us to work hard and be faithful in doing our part. He’ll make up the rest if we continue to put His work first, no matter what.

5 What challenge would you give aspiring young scientists? > I would challenge other young scientists to hold on and be true to their Christian beliefs, and not be ashamed of being a child of God and representative of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. God will bless you in your efforts to reach out to others, and will make your school work and study easier. Work hard, be good at what you do and above all, look for opportunities to tell others about Jesus. This is our responsibility to God and to our fellow human beings.