Dr. Michelle Skelton is an established program manager and the current lead of the DS-I Africa Coordinating Centre, the H3Africa Administrative Coordinating Centre and the Secretariat of the H3Africa Data and Biospecimen Access Committee (H3Africa DBAC). Her leadership role places her at the forefront of transformative initiatives aimed at enhancing health outcomes across the African continent. H3Africa, which has revolutionized the genomics landscape in Africa by building a robust genomics workforce, developing data resources, and establishing interconnected networks and bioinformatics infrastructure; and DS-I Africa, which aims to leverage big data through a multidisciplinary approach to improve human health. As the Principal Investigator she oversees a dedicated team that supports these consortia in critical areas such as strategic partnerships, outreach, and the development of guidelines and policies. Dr. Skelton has been pivotal in fostering scientific exchange and collaboration through numerous in-person consortium meetings held throughout various African nations. She actively engages with a diverse array of stakeholders, including government officials, global organizations, grassroots movements, and governance working groups, to raise awareness about the significance of scientific research and data-sharing toward addressing health challenges in Africa. A strong advocate for early career scientists, she dedicates significant resources to their professional development, through fellowship programs, training initiatives, and strategic partnerships. Empowering emerging scientists to share their research findings toward supporting their further development. She is currently based at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Cape Town.