Sweet Success in South Africa
Dr. Annegret Stark and colleagues at the University of KwaZulu-Natal are leading efforts in South Africa to use biowaste from sugar cane manufacturing.
Bioengineers-in-training Looking to Strike Gold
Dr. Elena Rosca of Ashesi University is leading a team of students in the iGEM competition. They are focused on engineering bacteria that can detect elements that are typically found in conjunction with gold but are far easier to detect than the gold itself.
Changing the Narrative
Prof. Aina Adeogun at the University of Ibadan is making strides in her investigation into how pollution affects the hormones of Nigeria’s aquatic life. Her work is lending a greater understanding to how the polluted water impacts Nigeria’s most vulnerable populations: women and children.
Bacteria in Balance: Harnessing Microbiology for Better Dental Care in India
Dr. Kishore Bhat, professor of microbiology at Maratha Mandal’s NGH Institute of Dental Sciences & Research Centre (MMDC), is propelling the country’s first research into the oral microbiome. As the only oral microbiology program in India, Dr. Bhat’s department is training dentists around the country to better identify oral pathogens and save lives.
Playing the Long Game
Instrumental Access equipment is helping scientists in Uruguay in their quest to stop parasitic infections. Dr. Gustavo Salinas at the Universidad de la República in Uruguay are one step closer to finding more effective treatments against Soil-Transmitted Helminths.
Teaming up to investigate an unusually high number of twins in Nigeria
No one knows why Igbo-Ora, Nigeria—also known as “Twin Town”—has one of the world’s highest rates of twin births.
Now, Profs. Roseangela Nwuba and Akhere Omonkhua are using molecular biology to investigate, potentially unlocking new avenues of research and treatments for infertility!
Instrumental Access Impact Update: Teaching
In 2020 and 2021, Instrumental Access awardees expanded their teaching capacity, training the next generation of scientists for their careers.
With the right equipment in place, they were able to provide hands-on training to thousands of students across the world.
Instrumental Access Impact Update: Research
In 2020 and 2021, Instrumental Access awardees expanded their research projects, focusing on everything from portable energy storage to combating tropical diseases.
With the right equipment in place, they were able to advance key findings and publish at higher rates, spreading their expertise across the world.
Exploring Sustainable Energy Storage in Colombia
Colombia’s most famous export, coffee, is stored and shipped in sturdy woven bags made from a local plant called fique, also known as sisal. The fibers of the fique plant are notoriously strong, but creating textiles wastes nearly 95% of the plant itself. As a nanoscientist specializing in energy delivery, Esteban Garcia-Tamayo, PhD, believes that the byproducts of this process may be essential for the future of sustainable energy storage.
Turning Obstacles to Opportunities: How One Researcher is Advancing His Fight Against Antimicrobial Resistance
In a little over a year since Instrumental Access equipment arrived on campus at the Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Dr. Victorien Dougnon’s research and publication schedule has been accelerated exponentially.
Even in the midst of a pandemic, his work investigating traditional herbal medicines that may be effective against antimicrobial resistance is pushing ahead. Dr. Dougnon and his colleagues have used their lab’s expanded capacity to perform sample analyses on-site, increasing both the speed and accuracy of their findings.