by Steve Ernst
AL
Editor’s Page Equipping Researchers in the Developing World
Having shipped 87 tons of scientific equip- ment to 35 institutions based in 24 countries in the developing world since 2003, the nonprofit organization Seeding Labs has a very focused and motivated staff. CEO and founder Nina Dudnik, Ph.D., compares its origins in the basement of Harvard Medical School to those of such giants as Apple (a garage) and Facebook (a dorm room). While the characterization is a bit playful, it should not obscure the dramatic benefits the or- ganization provides to underfunded and underequipped scientists.
Dudnik’s time as a Fulbright fellow perform- ing agricultural research in the Ivory Coast was both eye-opening and formative. Her host lab—an internationally funded research station that was probably the best-equipped lab in that region (if not the country, according to Dudnik)—had one PCR ma- chine. Supplies were expensive and scarce; microcentrifuge tubes had to be washed and reused. Shipments were costly and slow; the lab sometimes waited months for their arrival. Dudnik notes, “We hoped that if someone was going to a conference in Europe or America they could bring things back.”
Despite limited resources, national turmoil and political instability, over time the lab de- veloped 18 varieties of rice tailored for African farmers and the types of problems they faced. “It was an object lesson for me—not just can you do research in an environment that is far different from what you find in the U.S., but also the kind of local and social impact that research can have,” Dudnik says.
She eventually returned to the U.S. to go to graduate school “…at Harvard, which had almost all the resources you could imagine
at your fingertips, all the time, and it was an incredible culture shock.” Seeding Labs grew directly out of Dudnik’s experience and that of some other fellows who had worked in other regions of the developing world. Dudnik explains, “We started to collect the surplus equipment from the labs around us and started to look for scientists to send it to. The very first shipment was a couple of boxes that I carried out of the basement and put on the truck.” In 2008 an organization in New York called Echoing Green, which gives start-up funds to social entrepreneurs, provided the opportunity to shift from a student club to a full-blown nonprofit. “We’ve grown to being able to ship 20-foot shipping containers, so it’s been quite a trajectory,” a somewhat amazed and positively grateful Dudnik notes.
The process for identifying overseas partners for what is now known as the Instrumental Access program starts with an application. Scientists with expertise in technology and international development help review and score the applications. Applicants and university administrators are interviewed to develop a clear picture of the university’s in- frastructure, the available human resources, the types of scientific research being con- ducted and the educational opportunities available for students. Ensuring a long, useful life for equipment that accelerates scientific research and expands education opportuni- ties is the end goal.
The Instrumental Access cycle in 2015 brought 67 applicants; in the end, 16 univer- sity departments were selected to receive equipment. (This year’s awards are listed at http://
seedinglabs.org/programs-and-impact/instru- mental-access/instrumental-access-2016/.)
AMERICAN LABORATORY 5 APRIL 2016
Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology in western Kenya will receive a shipment of equipment to be utilized by 26 faculty and their students in the Department of Biological Sciences. Dr. John Muoma, pictured, focuses his research on increasing food security for inhabitants of the region.
Prospective applicants for the next cycle are encouraged to subscribe to the Seeding Labs newsletter for current information.
In donating equipment to Instrumental Access, Seeding Labs affords companies the opportunity to remove clutter and to reduce both equipment storage and disposal costs and negative environmental impacts. They also get to be part of the global science community in a way that differs from normal business channels. (Partners are listed at
http://seedinglabs.org/our-donors/.)
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