In addition to my work in the lab, I founded and direct a non-profit organisation devoted to promote scientific research, education and innovation in the African continent. TReND in Africa, which stands for Teaching and Research in Natural sciences for Development in Africa, was born in 2011 in collaboration with Sadiq Yusuf (St. Augustine University, Uganda) and Tom Baden (University of Sussex, UK). TReND runs thanks to the many volunteers worldwide that implement our various activities, which include:

• Intensive science courses for African researchers on an expanding number of topics such as: Bio-informatics, genome editing, neuroscience, and open labware.
• Equipment donations.
• Expert volunteering programmes, by which scientists from across the globe can volunteer at African universities.
• Webminar series.
• Public outreach.