Want to stay up-to-date with what is going on? Follow our Page for the latest updates
JR Biotek Foundation
Non-profit Organizations
Bowie, Maryland 656 followers
Advancing bioscience education, research and innovation to achieve food and nutrition security in Africa
About us
JR Biotek Foundation is a charitable organisation (501(c)(3)) established to promote bioscience education, research and innovation for Africa's sustainable development. We design, develop and provide world-class hands-on molecular bioscience-focused research training programs to Africa-based agricultural researchers and students. With support from our partners including the University of Cambridge and researchers at the Texas A&M University, USA, we have reached and provided excellent molecular biology and biotechnology-focused training (both online and offline) to thousands of researchers and students in 40+ countries. We are working with our powerful alumni network across Africa to build long-term, sustainable and effective capacity building programs that are relevant to solving local problems, especially hunger and malnutrition in Africa.
- Website
-
http://www.jrbiotekfoundation.org
External link for JR Biotek Foundation
- Industry
- Non-profit Organizations
- Company size
- 2-10 employees
- Headquarters
- Bowie, Maryland
- Type
- Nonprofit
- Founded
- 2015
- Specialties
- agricultural research, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Bioscience education and training, Molecular bioscience capacity building, and Promoting regional and international research partnerships
Locations
-
Primary
Get directions
Bowie, Maryland, US
-
Get directions
Employees at JR Biotek Foundation
-
Chloé Orland
Ecologist with strong interests in food security, molecular biology, and all things aquatic.
-
Bonphace Mangeni, PhD
Plant Virologist
-
Carol N. Ibe, PhD
Crop Scientist | Founder of JR Biotek Foundation | Research Manager at Cambridge Global Challenges | TEDx Oxford Speaker | Advisor & Consultant on…
-
Ayomide Mary Olukorede
Plant Science & Biotechnology | PhD Candidate @JohnInnesCenter
Updates
-
🚀 Celebrating a Decade of Impact in African Biosciences! 🌍 In September 2014, we embarked on a bold journey to strengthen bioscience research capacity across Africa by training and empowering the next generation of African bioscientists. Our mission was clear: equip them with cutting-edge knowledge and technical skills in molecular biology to drive impactful research in applied biosciences. Our very first workshop, held in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria, and supported by the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Nigeria, brought together scientists from six African nations. Many of these early participants have since become invaluable contributors to our mission, mentoring others and amplifying our impact. This milestone event marked the start of a transformative 10-year journey that has left its mark on numerous research institutions across Africa. 🌱 ✨ Join us as we celebrate this incredible decade of progress at our 'Roots of Resilience' event, hosted in partnership with the Department of Plant Sciences (Virology and Molecular Plant Pathology Group), University of Cambridge in March 2025. This event not only honors our commitment to empowering African agricultural scientists but also unveils our ambitious new initiative: AGRIIP - Agri-Innovation & Impact Project. Stay tuned for more updates—together, we’re building a resilient future for food security and sustainability! 💪🍂. Photos: JR Biotek's first training workshop at IITA, Nigeria in September 2014. Learn more at www.jrbiotekfoundation.org
-
-
🌱 Roots of Resilience: A Decade of Empowering African Agricultural Scientists for Food Security and Sustainability! 🌱 In March 2025, join us at the University of Cambridge to celebrate 10 years of advancing African agriculture through innovation, research, and empowerment! 🎉 🗓️ Save the Date! March 2025 | Hybrid Event – Attend in person or online! More info soon. Highlights: 🔬 Inspiring talks from top scientists and innovators 🌱 Exhibitions of alumni work on African crops and sustainable practices 💡 Launch of the Agri-Innovation & Impact Project (AGRIIP) 🎤 Research on combating crop pests and advancing cutting-edge science in African research institutions 💬 Stay tuned for more details! www.jrbiotekfoundation.org #RootsOfResilience #AGRIIP #AfricanAgriculture #CambridgeFestival2025 #SustainableFarming #FoodSecurity #EmpoweringFarmers #ClimateAction
-
🌟 Celebrating 10 Years of Impact at JR Biotek Foundation 🌟 In 2025, we mark an incredible milestone: a decade of empowering African scientists and driving innovation in agricultural research and food security across the continent! Our event, 'Roots of Resilience: Celebrating a Decade of Impact in African Agricultural Science', will be hosted at the University of Cambridge during the Cambridge Festival. It will highlight the transformative work of JR Biotek Foundation over the last ten years, showcasing groundbreaking achievements by our alumni and collaborators. This celebration also marks the official launch of the Agri-Innovation & Impact Project (AGRIIP) —a pioneering five-year initiative aimed at uniting 100 ag-scientists & 3,000 smallholder farmers to co-create climate-resilient solutions for Africa’s food systems. We are thrilled to celebrate this journey of shared success, fostering sustainable growth and resilience in Africa's agricultural landscapes. 💡 Event sponsors are welcome! Join us in supporting this impactful work. 🔗 Learn more about AGRIIP and our journey at www.jrbiotekfoundation.org #Agriculture #FoodSecurity #ClimateResilience #Innovation #Africa #JRBiotek #CambridgeUniversity #Sustainability #Impact
-
-
Facilitators of the world-class specialized hands-on Metagenomics Training Workshop received special gifts from Prof. Mochiah, the Director of CSIR-Crops Research Institute (CRI), Kumasi, Ghana. The gifts were presented by Prof Marian Quain, the Deputy-Director General of CSIR-Ghana and our Advisory Board member. The Workshop was co-organized and delivered by scientists from CRI, SPUN | Society for the Protection of Underground Networks Oxford Nanopore Technologies and JR Biotek Foundation. Special thanks to our fantastic host and collaborators, and to Toby Kiers and Bethan Manley of SPUN, Charles Kayuki of Oxford Nanopore, Chloé Orland, Carol Ibe, Ruth Prempeh (host) and her team at CRI, and all participants, supporters and sponsors (SPUN and partners) for a truly wonderful experience.
-
-
Crop Scientist | Founder of JR Biotek Foundation | Research Manager at Cambridge Global Challenges | TEDx Oxford Speaker | Advisor & Consultant on Global Food Security
Last week, I had the special honour of meeting the Director (Prof. Ofori) and Deputy Director (Prof. Opuni-Frimpong) of CSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana. We discussed partnership opportunities with JR Biotek Foundation to scale molecular biotech research for improving some of West Africa's most important and endangered indigenous and traditional trees and tree crops. Many thanks to Patience Mansa Gakpetor, a brilliant scientist at CSIR-FORIG and JR Biotek's alum member for forging this link. We look forward to continuing our discussion and exploring avenues to strengthen molecular bio-research capability, technology transfer and effective collaborations to improve and preserve our tree crops for sustainable livelihoods. I thoroughly enjoyed the tour of the tree seedlings nursery and labs. Special thanks for the VIP welcome 🙏🏽. I appreciate it.
-
-
A great start to the Africa Mycorrhizal Mapping and Hands-on Metagenomics Training Workshop taking place at the Crops Research Institute in Kumasi, Ghana, this week. 12 ag-scientists from 7 African countries are learning how to use the Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) sequencing platform to sequence soil microbial genomes. The Workshop is a collaboration between JR Biotek Foundation, SPUN | Society for the Protection of Underground Networks, CSIR-Crops Research Institute (CRI) and ONT. Many thanks to CRI for hosting us and to the amazing scientists, organizations, sponsors and participants involved in the planning and execution of a highly impactful capacity-building initiative aimed at advancing research for sustainable food and agro-ecological systems.
-
-
-
-
-
+8
-
-
In less than two weeks, we'll return to CSIR-CROPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE in Kumasi, Ghana to co-host a world-class hands-on METAGENOMICS training Workshop in collaboration with SPUN | Society for the Protection of Underground Networks and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT). The Workshop will equip 12 outstanding agricultural scientists (from research institutions in six African countries) with hands-on experience in the use of the Nanopore sequencing technology platform to sequence and identify soil microbial species that may contribute to soil and plant health. Scientists from JR Biotek Foundation, SPUN and ONT will teach the Workshop, covering core aspects of environmental ecology, molecular biology, genomics/sequencing lab techniques and bioinformatics (including microbial genome assembly, etc). We are very excited to partner with SPUN, Crops Research Institute and ONT to continue upskilling and empowering Africa's brilliant ag-scientists. Our goal is to enable them to apply cutting-edge science and biotechnologies to advance their research questions and contribute to sustainable crop and food production on the continent. Photos: JR Biotek Foundation
-
-
JR Biotek Foundation's work was highlighted in Dr Carol Ibe's TEDx talk. See video link in the post.
Crop Scientist | Founder of JR Biotek Foundation | Research Manager at Cambridge Global Challenges | TEDx Oxford Speaker | Advisor & Consultant on Global Food Security
"Breaking the cycle of hunger and malnutrition in Africa!" I'm delighted to share that my TEDx (TEDxOxford) talk has now been published (link below). I spoke about the urgent need to close the widening hunger and malnutrition gaps affecting millions of people in Africa. A key suggestion is to recenter African crops (Indigenous and traditional staples) into global R&D funding priorities by increasing funding and financial investments to boost Africa-led research, particularly in African tertiary education institutions and national research institutes. Smallholder farmers must also be economically empowered and supported to grow their crops of choice rather than labour-, cost-, and agricultural input-intensive foreign crops, which tend to struggle to adapt to local agroecological systems during a looming climate crisis. Finally, I highlighted the impact of our work at JR Biotek Foundation and our vision to contribute to feeding Africa sustainably by upskilling and empowering African ag-scientists. Our approach is to make accessible, modern scientific tools, know-how and resources to accelerate the development of locally adaptable solutions that address pressing local food and nutrition security challenges. I hope the talk inspires some level of change. Here's the video https://lnkd.in/ecWr9aWt
-