About US
supporting Science in africa
At TReND, we believe in the value of scientific innovation for economic and societal progress. We support biomedical research in Africa by giving African researchers the tools and expertise to advance their own research goals.
Originally founded at Cambridge University, we are a non-profit organisation run primarily by a large network of scientist volunteers at top universities around the world. We are passionate about scientific empowerment and innovation.
The trend team
Prof. Tom Baden FRSB
Founding Director and Trustee
Tom runs the Vision and Visual ecology lab at the University of Sussex, UK. His scientific work has been recognised on multiple occasions, such as the 2016 Eppendorf Prize and the 2019 Nature/Tencents Global Impact Award. At TReND, Tom oversees technical and finanical aspects and is particularly involved in Neuroscience training as well as efforts to push open science across the African continent.
Dr. Lucia Prieto Godino
Founding Director and Trustee
Lucia runs the Neural Circuits and Evolution lab at the Francis Crick Institute, London, UK. Her numerous awards include the FENS-EJN Young Investigator Prize 2018 and the Passion in Science Award 2016. Besides overseeing the smooth running of TReND in general, Lucia is particularly involved in Neuroscience and genome editing training courses as well as wider policy issues.
Prof. Sadiq Yusuf
Founder and Director of African Affairs
Sadiq is the Vice Chancellor of Newgate University Minna, Niger State, Nigeria. He is currently the Secretary General of the Society of Neuroscientists of Africa (SONA) and current board member is overseeing key runnings of TReND activities all across the continent. Often interacting at the governmental level, he is particularly involved shaping long-term policy and large-scale projects.
Samyra Salek
General Coordinator
Samyra worked as a project manager for companies in Brazil, Germany and
Dr. Mahmoud Maina FRSA
Leader of Bioimaging Network in West Africa
Mahmoud is a Neuroscience Postdoc at Sussex, UK, and visiting faculty at Yobe, Nigeria. He founded the TReND Outreach program is the leader of the BioRTC lab, in Yobe. He has been
Dr. Andre Maia Chagas
Open Science Coordinator
André is a research bioengineer in the Neurosciences Department at
Dr. Vincenzo Di Donato
Genome Editing Collaborator
Vincenzo is the Scientific Director of ZeClinics (www.zeclinics.com), a contract research organization specializing in disease model generation. He has also been a co-organizer and professor of Genome editing courses.
Dr. Renee Hartig
Consultant - On-site Projects
Renee organizes educational courses tailored toward training young scientists in Africa. She has been assisting volunteers joining Volunteer Program since 2019. In 2021 she was invited to become the new Volunteer Coordinator leading this program.
Dr. Carola Yovanovich
Equipment Coordinator
Carola did her PhD in Argentina, then lived and worked in Sweden and Brazil before moving to the UK. She is currently a Research Fellow working on visual neuroscience at the University of Sussex. At TReND she is the Equpment Donation coordinator.
Artemis Koumoundourou
Alumni Coordinator
Artemis is currently doing her PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Ulm. She is working together with our alumni to create strong and long lasting partnerships between the African universities and TReND.
Akinrinade Ibukun
Outreach Coordinator
Ibukun obtained her PhD from the Gulbenkian Institute of science, Portugal and is currently a postdoc at the University of Calgary, Canada focusing on stress and sociality. At TReND she is the outreach coordinator.
Mosab Ali Awadelkareem
Webinar Coordinator
Mosab is a lecturer at the Faculty of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Al-Neelain University, Sudan. He is passionate about neuroscience education and capacity building in Africa. At, TReND, he coordinates our Webinars Series.
Paul Chu Sin Chung
Consumables Coordinator
Paul did his Ph.D. in France, then traveled around the world for a year before moving to Switzerland. He is currently a Research Fellow working on chronic pain at the Lausanne University Hospital. At TReND is responsible for all materials (reagents, kits, and chemicals) used during our courses and workshops.
Dr Sabi Raouf Issa
French Speak Countries Coordinator
Raouf is a Marie Curie Fellow at the Laboratory of Biology and Modeling of the Cell of ENS de Lyon; and a Group Leader at Brain Plasticity Laboratory-ESPCI at Paris Sciences et Lettres University, France. His research focuses on the emergence and maintenance of motor function in normal and pathological conditions.
Dr. Thomas Auer
Genome Editing Coordinator
Thomas is an SFN Ambizione Fellow at the University of Lausanne, studying the evolution of sensory circuits in Drosophilids. He is the main organiser of TReND’s Genome Editing Courses.
Dr. Daniel Münch
Website and IT
Daniel is a postdoc at the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon working on sensory processing. He won a Research Fellowship DFG. He
Dr. Pauline Essah
Trustee
Pauline is the Director of the Research and Program at ESSA Education Sub-Saharan Africa. She has also worked at UK’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and was instrumental in establishing and managing the flagship, multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary Cambridge-Africa Programme. .
Dr. Jelena Aleksic
Trustee
Jelena is an award-winning entrepreneur, passionate about bringing genomics and healthcare innovations to people who need them. She is the Founder and Director of SparkBio Ltd and the Director of Business Development of PharmEnable.
Thanks to our supporters
Transferrable skills
We aim to ensure long-term impact through skill transfer. We prioritise activities that build expertise within the communities we work in.
Responsible science
Ensuring responsible conduct of science is very important to TReND. We foreground responsible and ethical conduct in all our activities.
Frugal science
Through our work with Open Hardware we encourage high quality, low-cost research.
Networking
Our expanding alumni network links researchers both within and beyond Africa, building a strong base for a truly global future.
Open Science
Open Science is an important element of all we do at TReND. We aim to ensure that all our activities foreground openness and responsible sharing.
Fun!
All TReND members volunteer because they are passionate about science. We aim to transfer our passion and enthusiasm to all our participants so that they too believe that science is fun!
Support
TReND in Africa
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