Blog Archive

Professor Alan Poling Joins the Team

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APOPO is excited to announce the arrival of psychopharmacologist and behavior analyst Alan Poling of Western Michigan University. Professor Poling has published 11 books and more than 250 articles. His work has appeared in 40 different professional journals. He will be working with the APOPO team over the next year to increase our research capacity and to further streamline our training processes. We are happy to have him and look forward to his important contributions! Welcome to the team Alan!

Date :
Aug 23, 2009

Bart Weetjens on HeroRATS: African rats who can detect TB faster than humans

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APOPO's Founder, Bart Weetjens, was the featured columnist in last week's Global Health Magazine's Guest Blog segment: Training African giant pouched rats to detect pulmonary tuberculosis may sound like an extra-ordinary idea. In reality, it is a novel and alternative tool to enhance case detection in resource limited settings, at higher speed, smaller cost, and lower levels of skills in the operators. Moreover, this approach doesn't require any hi-tech equipment, or expensive reagents.

Date :
Aug 6, 2009

South Africa Abuzz with Talk of HeroRATS as Appropriate Technology

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Speaking at the launch of National Science Week 2009 at Galeshewe Stadium in Kimberley inthe Northern Cape, Science and Technology minister Naledi Pandor has praised the role of the African Giant Pouched Rat in fighting the scourge of landmines. She said, “It’s hoped that the HeroRATs will be able to save us from these destructive objects much faster than would otherwise have been the case." To read the full article, see our press section.

Date :
Jul 30, 2009

Founder attends the World Economic Forum on Africa

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Bart Weetjens, the founder of APOPO, attended the World Economic Forum on Africa from June 10th to the 12th. The theme for the 2009 conference is "Implications of the Global Economic Crisis for Africa;” the conference is hosted in Cape Town, South Africa.

Date :
Jun 9, 2009

Chief Financial Officer Arrives at APOPO

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APOPO is happy to announce that we now have a Chief Financial Officer, Sabrina Antognazza. Antognazza arrived at APOPO in the beginning of May. She will be in charge of administration and finance for all of APOPO and HeroRATS. She will also work in human resources and general managing.

Originally from Italy, Sabrina Antognazza has been working in different social projects in Africa prior to starting at APOPO. We want to warmly welcome Sabrina Antgnazza to our team!

Date :
Jun 8, 2009

Tuberculosis detection: Fact-finding mission to South Africa

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Last week, Christophe Cox, APOPO's CEO, and Renaud de Hemptinne, volunteer consultant in health economics, traveled to Cape Town, South Africa. The main purpose of their visit was to research the possibilities for expanding the activities of APOPO into Cape Town. The team was on a fact-finding mission to determine the relevance and possibility of using rats to detect Tuberculosis in this metropolitan area.

Date :
Jun 1, 2009

Armored Casspir arrives in Mozambique to expedite APOPO’s Demining operations

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APOPO purchased a Casspir from South Africa earlier this year, and it has just arrived on location for our demining teams to use for our operations. The Casspir was developed in South African as a landmine-protected personnel carrier. The Caspir is designed so that if a mine is detonated, the explosion will not injure the occupants.

Date :
May 19, 2009

HeroRATS in The New York Times Opinion piece

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HeroRATS was mentioned on a New York Times online opinion piece about giving. The author cites HeroRATS as cost-effective ways of giving. To view the article, see the New York Times article in our press section.

Date :
May 3, 2009

HeroRATs in IM Magazine

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HeroRATs and APOPO are featured in an article called "Mine Sniffers" in IM Magazine. IM Magazine is a news source that highlights all of the best things in the world that are working to create a better world, in any field. This magazine focuses on many the positive happenings in the world and highlights solutions rather than problems.

See their thoughts on HeroRATs: read the article here or in our press section.

Date :
Apr 29, 2009

APOPO founder attends Global Philanthropy Forum

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The Global Philanthropy Forum in Washington DC starts today, April 22nd, and ends on April 24th. At the forum, many individuals making a large impact on the world of philanthropy are gathering to discuss local and global poverty, climate change, global access to healthcare, education for a globalized world, and ways to prevent state failure in the wake of conflict.

Date :
Apr 21, 2009