Ayanda obtained her PhD in Chemistry from Rhodes University in South Africa. After graduation in 2021, she joined the Drug Discovery and Development center (H3D) as postdoctoral research fellow. During her time at H3D, her work included designing, synthesizing and optimizing organic molecules as antimalarial or antibacterial agents. Since April 2024, Ayanda has joined the department of Drug Design and Optimization at the HIPS under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Anna Hirsch as a postdoctoral researcher. Her current work focuses on the design and synthesis of DnaN inhibitors as antibacterials.