Welcome to Beneficial Bio intern Alice McDowell

Beneficial Bio is thrilled to welcome Alice McDowell who joins us for three months to undertake market research on setting up a Beneficial Bio node in Latin America and support our Cameroon node with new product development.

Alice is a final year PhD student at the Biochemistry Department in the University of Cambridge, studying the molecular biology of African trypanosomes, the single celled parasites that cause sleeping sickness in humans and Nagana in animals. 

She says "I am delighted to be joining Beneficial Bio for a 3 month internship, funded by the BBSRC DTP. During my PhD, I have collaborated with researchers at the University of Ghana through a Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA grant, and have become increasingly aware of how a lack of affordable and convenient biological reagents is a barrier to research and innovation in the Global South. I am therefore very excited to get involved with Beneficial Bio product development, and with conducting market research for a new Beneficial Bio node in South America."

During her time with Beneficial Bio, Alice will also be working closely with our Cameroon Node and Research Manager Stephane Fadanka to develop a genomic DNA extraction kit for local manufacture in Cameroon - further driving down the cost of molecular biology for local researchers who currently spend >£500 importing kits that take weeks to arrive.