{"id":273519,"date":"2026-06-18T14:29:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T13:29:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/course-and-conference-office\/?p=273519"},"modified":"2026-07-08T13:05:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T12:05:54","slug":"meet-the-team-lizzie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/course-and-conference-office\/2026\/06\/meet-the-team-lizzie\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the team: Lizzie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lizzie Tchongwe-Divala joined EMBL\u2019s European Bioinformatics Institute as a Scientific Training Officer in the training team in June 2025. Get to know Lizzie in our blog post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lizzie Tchongwe-Divala, Scientific Training Officer at EMBL-EBI. Image credit: Jeff Dowling\/EMBL-EBI.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tell us a bit about yourself and your background before joining EMBL-EBI\u2019s training team.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My academic training has been in molecular biology, spending hours in labs behind machines. But besides being a wet lab scientist, I was always drawn to people, engaging with communities and making knowledge accessible beyond the lab. That pull toward sharing what I had learned only grew stronger with time. Joining EMBL-EBI’s training team was the natural next step, where I can bring both my scientific background and my passion for education to help the next generation of life scientists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My journey in life sciences began with an undergraduate degree in medical laboratory sciences at the College of Medicine in Malawi, followed by a master’s in the molecular biology of parasites and disease vectors at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. These laid the foundation for years of work in malaria research, science education, and community engagement. In 2020, I joined the University of Glasgow for a Wellcome Trust-funded PhD in molecular biology, where I studied how a nutrient transporter in malaria parasites affects their transition to a transmissible stage, while also serving as a consultant scientific coordinator for the Global Malaria Research Hub at the University of Oxford’s Global Health Network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are some of the events\/projects you\u2019ve been working on since joining the team?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have been involved in several events\/projects in the training team, from both the core and grants programmes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My primary project when I joined the EMBL-EBI training team was the BiotrAIn<\/a> project, which is a collaboration between EMBL-EBI, the University of Costa Rica, and CABANAnet. The BiotrAIn project aims to build and strengthen AI capacity among Latin American bioscientists by developing a sustainable, foundational curriculum that equips them with the knowledge and skills to effectively apply artificial intelligence to biological and biomedical research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a scientific training officer, I am also involved in organising on-site and virtual courses, such as the upcoming virtual course on structural bioinformatics.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your favourite part of a training course here at EMBL-EBI?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My favourite part of a training course at EMBL-EBI is twofold. I love the behind-the-scenes process of shaping a course, collaborating with expert trainers as they prepare content that is accessible and meaningful for researchers at different levels. There is something deeply satisfying about seeing that effort come to life once the course begins. But equally, I cherish the community that forms around it. EMBL-EBI brings together researchers from incredibly diverse backgrounds, and watching participants exchange ideas, troubleshoot together, and build lasting connections reminds me of the broader impact that good training can have beyond the classroom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you attending any conferences or workshops of interest soon?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll be attending the ISMB Latam<\/a> in Peru and the ECCB 2026<\/a> conference in Geneva. I\u2019m looking forward to connecting with others in the community, disseminating the BiotrAIn project and other exciting initiatives at EMBL-EBI Training. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are you most looking forward to working on in the next 12 months?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the one year I’ve been with the EMBL-EBI training team, there’s always something to look forward to. My recent transition from a grants-focused role to the core programme offers a unique opportunity to explore how I can best use my experience to bridge these two aspects of the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m also looking forward to our upcoming EMBO Practical Course, Causality in biomedicine: going beyond associations<\/a>. I’m always excited to collaborate with different trainers, from developing the course right through to its successful delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Learn more about EMBL-EBI Training’s portfolio of grants, projects, and collaborations: https:\/\/www.ebi.ac.uk\/training\/our-partnerships\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lizzie Tchongwe-Divala joined EMBL\u2019s European Bioinformatics Institute as a Scientific Project Officer in the training team in June 2025. Get to know Lizzie in our blog post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":273769,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8606],"tags":[8018,9802,12539,8542],"embl_taxonomy":[],"class_list":["post-273519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-meet-the-embl-events-team","tag-embl-events-team","tag-embl-ebi-training","tag-embl-ebi-training-team","tag-meet-the-team"],"acf":[],"embl_taxonomy_terms":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/course-and-conference-office\/wp-content\/uploads\/Lizzie-2.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/course-and-conference-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/course-and-conference-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/course-and-conference-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/course-and-conference-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/course-and-conference-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273519"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/course-and-conference-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":276275,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/course-and-conference-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273519\/revisions\/276275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/course-and-conference-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/course-and-conference-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/course-and-conference-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/course-and-conference-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273519"},{"taxonomy":"embl_taxonomy","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/course-and-conference-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/embl_taxonomy?post=273519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}