On any given day, you might find Dr Rajini Haraksingh walking briskly through the campus of The University of the West Indies (UWI) in St Augustine, where she serves as a lecturer in Biotechnology.
But long before she joined the faculty, the campus was still her home base. The daughter of two UWI lecturers—her father, Dr Kusha Haraksingh, a historian and lawyer, and her mother, Dr Indra Haraksingh, a physicist with a focus on renewable energy in the Caribbean—Haraksingh grew up immersed in academic life.
Having been raised deeply rooted in the bounds of the community, attending both UWI primary school and St Augustine Girls’ High School (SAGHS) nearby, Haraksingh’s worldview was never small. “I’ve always been a citizen of the world,” she says. “And I keenly knew there was more out there.”
That innate curiosity and drive to expand took Haraksingh to some of the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. She completed her undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Molecular Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), spent a year abroad at Cambridge, and later earned her MSc in Molecular Biology, PhD in Human Genomics at Yale University.
Her path was never a straight one, as Haraksingh explored a wide range of interests—one of her proudest moments was being named Best All-Round Student at SAGHS.
Crediting the supportive and intellectually vibrant household she grew up in, she says, “My parents never pigeon-holed my interests. I did swimming, dancing, Math Olympiad, and all my interests were nurtured.” In fact, it was this freedom to explore all facets of the human experience that led her to her passion–examining and learning more about life itself.
Remembering her journey into genomics, she felt it was her “innate curiosity, and desire to understand things, coupled with the realisation that I cared about life and wanted to understand life at the most fundamental level,” that led her away from her initial interest in studying physics.
Her experience in genomics began at a time when the world of biology was undergoing a revolution. “When I started undergrad, the human genome had just been sequenced,” she explains. “It was the first time in human history that we could read the instruction book of what makes us human.” That moment of scientific awakening led her to progress to the study of variation in human genomes during her PhD, ultimately joining the 1000 Genomes Project—a massive global collaboration involving over 500 scientists which she describes as a career highlight.
“We were able to characterise how diverse people really are, genetically,” she says, remembering the 1,000 Genomes Project. “It laid the groundwork for understanding how populations, including Caribbean ones, have evolved and why they may be more susceptible to conditions like diabetes or heart disease.”
Her participation in this project, among others, allowed her to incorporate Caribbean people and the regional human experience in places where they may have traditionally been overlooked.
Her career flourishing abroad, Haraksingh was at the top of her field researching and working in top-class institutions. She always knew, however, that she wanted to make significant contributions locally, “interested in ensuring that my efforts benefited this region.” In 2015, after 14 years overseas, she accepted what she described as her “dream job” at UWI, St Augustine, and was tasked with supporting the build-out of new biotechnology programmes.
Aside from her desire to contribute, she says, “I didn’t want to just work in a place that never shuts off. Trinidad has this celebratory, warm, and festive air.”
Her return in 2015 also coincided with a growing global recognition of the importance of studying diverse populations—and she felt compelled to apply her work abroad and research to T&T.
Her work has already made an indelible impact. In one of her most significant achievements, Haraksingh secured a grant from the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology to investigate the genetics of Diabetes in the population of Caribbean individuals.
“That was a real career highlight,” she says, also acknowledging the challenges she faced getting approvals and getting the study off the ground. “It validated the importance of studying our own populations, and understanding the uniqueness of our biology at play.”
She expects that this work will scratch the surface of a deeper investigation into the genetic aetiology of diabetes in the Trinidadian population, with the results being able to inform the design of clinical screening panels for this population as well as in other similar populations in the wider Caribbean.
For over a decade, she has been instrumental in building local capacity in biotechnology, launching both undergraduate and postgraduate programs—foundational work that paid dividends during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Amidst her professional accomplishments, Haraksingh has embraced the transformative experience of parenthood. Now a mother of two young boys, aged five and two, she finds herself with a newfound appreciation for her own parents.
“Being a present, conscious parent is so important,” she reflects. “It’s what builds a child’s confidence to take on the world.” Her parenting philosophy, shared equally with her husband—whom she jokes is “in charge of output while I’m in charge of input”—is rooted in the same sense of community she was raised in. “You can’t do it alone. My parents who are now devoted and involved grandparents, my aunt, our babysitter, and my whole village have contributed to my success.”
Through it all, Haraksingh remains committed to her personal ethos: never limit yourself. She sees danger in not exploring all interests, avenues, and personal potential, as “there is so much to like and experience and it’s important to experience it all deeply.”
Driven by an insatiable desire to know how things develop and why, she has emerged as a thought leader in her field and is breaking ground for the advancement of research and understanding of genetics in the region.
