Origins and medical training

Born in Brazzaville, Professor Suzy Gisèle Kimbally Kaky comes from a family committed to public service. The daughter of the late Kaky Etienne, a civil engineer, and the late Madika Élisabeth, a nursing assistant at the Brazzaville General Hospital (which became the University Hospital Center - CHU) in 1988, she developed an early awareness of social and health issues. After obtaining a scientific baccalaureate (mathematics track) from the Lycée Savorgnan de Brazza, she pursued medical studies at the University of Algiers.

From January 1980 to January 1981, she left Algeria to complete her medical internship at the General Hospital in Brazzaville, Congo. During that year, with her parents' consent, she decided to formalize her marriage to a senior artillery officer, Mr. Kimbally Francis Brice, whose name she took on October 25, 1980. Two sons were born from this union, in 1981 and 1988. The elder son is now a graduate in logistics and port operations, while the younger son is a cardiologist, currently an assistant at the Faculty of Medicine.

Health Sciences of the University Marien Ngouabi of Brazzaville.

Back in Algiers after her year of internship, she passed the entrance exam for the year of specialization. She then chose cardiology, a vocation born during her medical internship, deeply marked by the teaching of Professor Christophe Bouramoué, considered the father of cardiology in Congo and head of the Cardiology and Internal Medicine Department, which he had founded in 1973.

She obtained her medical degree in May 1981, then in June 1985 her specialist diploma in cardiology, after completing her medical training entirely in Algeria. She thus became the first female cardiologist in Congo.

An academic career d’exception

Returning to Congo in 1985, she joined the Cardiology and Internal Medicine Department of the Brazzaville General Hospital, later to become the University Hospital Center (CHU), then headed by Professor Christophe Bouramoué. Alongside her clinical work, she dedicated herself to higher education, with the agreement and strong encouragement of her mentor, Professor C. Bouramoué. In January 1995, she joined the National Institute of Health Sciences (INSSA), which subsequently became the Faculty of Health Sciences at Marien Ngouabi University (UMNG).

His academic rise is remarkable:

Assistant Professor at CAMES in July 1998

Associate Professor of Cardiology since December 2002 in Dakar (Senegal)

During the CAMES competitive examination for university professorships, she distinguished herself brilliantly by ranking first among candidates from several countries, before an international jury of eminent cardiologists, confirming her scientific influence beyond national borders. She thus became the first woman to pass the agrégation examination in medicine in Congo, a historic milestone for African higher education. She was promoted to Full Professor of Cardiology in July 2010 in Saint-Louis, Senegal. The ultimate recognition came when the Board of Directors of Marien Ngouabi University, on August 19, 2020, appointed her Professor Emeritus of Cardiology, a distinction officially conferred on September 1, 2021. To this day, she remains the only female Professor Emeritus at this university.

Leadership hospitalier and clinical innovations

Professor Kimbally Kaky holds strategic hospital and university positions:

·         Head of the Cardiology Department at the Brazzaville University Hospital (2012–2021)

·         Director of the Diploma of Specialized Studies (DES) in Cardiology (2012–2021)

·         Director of Medical Affairs at the Brazzaville University Hospital (2016–2023)

In this last position, she achieved a major breakthrough for the Congolese healthcare system: the creation of the first Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) in Congo, equipped with four beds dedicated to cardiac resuscitation. This unit, inaugurated in September 2017 by the Minister of Health and Population, Ms. Jacqueline Lydia Mikolo, marked a decisive turning point in the management of cardiovascular emergencies in Congo.

Research, international expertiseand structuring of Congolese cardiology

In the early 2000s, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), she led a STEPS study on hypertension in Brazzaville, which became a regularly cited scientific reference in works on cardiovascular diseases in Africa. Her scientific commitment is also demonstrated by her active participation in numerous international cardiology congresses, both in Africa and Europe, as well as by the recognition of her expertise by several learned cardiology societies. A visionary, she is working to structure the discipline at the national level by co-founding the Congolese Society of Cardiology (SOCARCO) and by chairing the organizing committee of the first International Symposium of Cardiology of Congo, held in Brazzaville in September 2017, thus laying the foundations for an organized and dynamic Congolese scientific community.

To this day, she remains the only female professor emeritus at Marien Ngouabi University in Brazzaville.

Transmission andacademic heritage

Deeply committed to the transmission of knowledge, Professor Kimbally Kaky became the first woman to direct a Specialized Studies Diploma (DES) in Congo. Going against the grain of an academic culture sometimes marked by the hoarding of knowledge, she prioritizes support, mentorship, and collective advancement.

This approach bore fruit: she trained two associate professors of cardiology during the 2016 CAMES session in Dakar: Professor Ikama Méo Stéphane, the first cardiologist to implant pacemakers in Congo in 2012, and Professor Ellenga Mbolla Bertrand Fikahëm. She thus became the first woman in Congo to train two professors in her specialty, permanently inscribing her legacy in the national medical landscape.

Since September 2021, although retired, she continues her commitment as a part-time Emeritus Professor, providing theoretical instruction (lectures and tutorials) to future cardiologists at the Cardiology B Department of the Brazzaville University Hospital.

Distinctions honorary

Her career is recognized by numerous distinctions, including: Professor Emeritus of Cardiology;

 Knight, Officer and Commander in the Congolese Order of Merit;

·         Silver medalist in Public Health;

·         Officer of the Order of University Merit;

·         Knight of the International Order of Academic Palms of CAMES.

A woman of science, rigor, and human commitment, Professor Suzy Gisèle Kimbally Kaky embodies a demanding, innovative, and deeply dedicated African medicine, focused on knowledge transfer. Her journey transcends individual success to become a symbol of collective progress. Through her, Congolese cardiology has been structured, and Africa has gained a leading figure.