In cooperation with the Global Health Protection Programme we invited three ANDEMIA students from Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Democratic Republic of Congo to a 2-months (03.09.2018 to 26.10.2018 ) intensive workshop on molecular diagnostics in Berlin.

In addition to various tools for molecular diagnostics, the workshop also included the correct documentation of data, interpretation of results, troubleshooting, quality management and theoretical introductory courses in next generation sequencing. Additionally our students were able to participate in an intensive English course, which was particularly important for our students from french-speaking countries.

The workshop will be followed by intensive training sessions in the partner countries under the direction of Dr. Essia Belarbi, who is responsible for molecular diagnostics. The aim is to implement what has been learned in each of the countries and to ensure a good and sustainable application of the learned methods as well as the transfer of the knowledge to other key persons. In addition, a shorter, more specific workshop on molecular diagnostics at the University of Pretoria is planned for May/June 2019 in South Africa.