Programs

Center for Research and Training in Neuroscience and Medical Genetics

The Center for Research and Training in Neuroscience and Medical Genetics, currently led by Professor Guida Landouré, an Associate Professor at the University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako, is a research group dedicated to characterizing inherited diseases, both clinically and genetically. Although its primary focus is inherited neurological disorders, our center now includes genetic conditions from other specialties in an interdisciplinary approach. The center’s prime aim is to clinically characterize genetic disorders in the Malian population to establish a comprehensive clinical description of these diseases. The secondary goal is to identify the molecular defects underlying these conditions, and to explore their impact in cell and animal models to further our understanding of their function and interactions. Lastly, our center aims at providing training and post-training incentives for Malian physicians and graduate students to build independent local capacities.  As one of the few teams in Africa studying rare diseases, especially the genetics of epilepsy in the last three years, our center has established the genetic basis of a new epilepsy clinical entity currently under review and uncovered the gene for others. We have proven our experience in this field in Africa, and we are furthering our capacity to work with international research teams.