The ALBA-IBRO Podcast Miniseries is a collection of three episodes designed to provide a broader audience with exclusive insights into the topics covered at ALBA-IBRO diversity and inclusion events held during three international conferences in 2023:
- The 16th International Conference of the Society of Neuroscientists of Africa (SONA 2023), 11-14 July in Johannesburg, South Africa
- The IBRO World Congress 2023, 9-13 September in Granada, Spain
- Neuroscience 2023 (SfN - Society for Neuroscience), 11-15 November in Washington D.C., USA
The miniseries delves deeper into the knowledge and expertise shared at the ALBA-IBRO events to make these valuable insights accessible to all. Through exclusive interviews and engaging discussions, each episode unravels the layers of complexity surrounding these topics, while bringing an intersectional approach to different aspects of equity, diversity and inclusion in neuroscience.
Stay tuned for Episode 2 at the IBRO World Congress 2023 in September 2023, in link with our event with the IBRO ECC: Better Together: Making Neuroscience Research and its Benefits Global
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Episode 1: Towards inclusive mentoring in African neuroscience
For the first episode, we are at the 16th International Conference of the Society of Neuroscientists of Africa (SONA) held in Johannesburg, South Africa (11-14 July 2023), where ALBA and IBRO organised a Mentoring circle workshop on Leadership at every career stage, in collaboration with World Women in Neuroscience and SANS (Southern African Neuroscience Society)
Dr Bashir is speaking with three researchers located on the African continent about the role of mentoring in career advancement and capacity development in Africa: Dr Sara Elfarrash (EG), Dr Royhaan Folarin (NG) and Dr Lihle Qulu (SA).
For the closing remarks, Dr Bashir is discussing with the ALBA Network Office: Mathilde Maughan (Project and Network Manager) and Dr Keerthana Iyer (Partnerships and Development Manager), on their views and experience with mentoring in the field of equity, diversity and inclusion in neuroscience.
Download the episode transcript.
Guests
Dr Sara Elfarrash is an Assistant Professor of Physiology at the Faculty of Medicine in Mansoura University, Egypt. Her research focuses on studying protein aggregation and the role of inflammation in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative disease mainly Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, using organotypic brain slices and animal models. She earned a double Ph.D. degree with recognition from both Mansoura and Aarhus University, Denmark in 2020 and was recently granted the 2021 IBRO Early Career Award. 
Dr Royhaan Folarin is a neuroscientist and fellow of the African science literacy network (FASLN). He is based at the Olabisi Onabanjo University (Nigeria) where he lectures anatomical sciences to postgraduate and undergraduate students of various health sciences including Anatomy, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy. He is the lead for the Group for Biopsychiatry Research and Innovative Neuroscience (G-BRaIN), where his team investigates the pathogenetic mechanisms of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders using mice and drosophila models, with a view to understanding how some natural potential alternatives to synthetic antipsychotics achieve their neuroprotective effects. His team also makes use of 3D printing and other open labware techniques as self-help strategies in the fabrication of their research tools and equipment. 
Dr Lihle Qulu is a Neuroscientist and a Senior lecturer in the Discipline of Human Physiology, under the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Stellenbosch. Her research focuses on sexual violence and understanding the behavioural and neuronal changes of both victim and sexual offender as well as understanding other social factors that influence sexual offence in convicted rapists. Her research is translational with the animal model of sexual defeat originating from Professor Inga Neumann’s lab in Regensburg University (Germany). Her prior research focused on understanding the effects of early life stress and the impact it may have on the later life of the offspring. Dr Qulu has supervised and graduated six masters’ students and is currently supervising 3 PhD and 3 master’s students.
Podcast host: Dr Asma Bashir
Our fantastic host is Dr Asma Bashir, founder and host of the podcast Her Royal Science. Launched in 2019, Her Royal Science is a podcast featuring individuals from minoritised groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We encourage you to go listen to all episodes.
Before becoming a full-time podcaster, Dr Bashir was a post-doctoral fellow at the UK Dementia Research Institute (The University of Edinburgh, UK).
Under the supervision of Dr Cheryl Wellington, Dr Bashir completed her PhD in Neuroscience at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada, after having completed her BA Hons in Psychology at Boston University, USA. For her PhD, Dr Bashir used preclinical and clinical approaches to investigate mechanisms of traumatic brain injury that lead to cerebrovascular compromise and axonal damage, including preclinical evaluation of a potential therapeutic approach.
This miniseries is organised with the support of the International Brain Research Organization, a founding partner of the ALBA Network.
