Last week, we welcomed 22 students from 4 African countries to the TReND/FLiACT fly neuroscience workshop at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana. These students were selected from a highly competitive process involving applications from about 70 students from 9 African countries. The workshop focused on theoretical and practical aspects of 4 topics, namely (i) the fly as a model organism for neuroscience research (ii) the fly for behavioural studies (iii) olfaction for applied neuroscience research, and (iv) human disease models. The workshop ended with participants presenting their ideas to use flies in their research, with expert advice provided by the faculty. Ideas included using flies to study: Konzo (cyanide poisoning from cassava-based dishes), retinal degeneration, tropical diseases, toxicology, and for drug screening. A major focal point was the consensus to start a Ghana Neuroscience Society.
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