Human resources for research: building bridges through the Diaspora

The collaboration of scientists between the developed and the developing world is an opportunity to reverse the 'brain drain' and to enable 'brain circulation'. Attracting alumni from the Diaspora to strengthen the development of talented scientists will strengthen research in Africa. In 2010, the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa (SA), created an Alumni Diaspora Programme to boost international research collaboration and networking between leading medical and health sciences alumni who now live and work at academic institutions abroad with academic colleagues 'back home'. Based in Johannesburg, a gateway city attracting researchers from all over sub-Saharan Africa, this programme has the potential to capitalise on some of the intellectual capacity that was lost, mostly during the decades of apartheid, and to strengthen capacity, not just in SA, but across the continent. The goal of this review is to highlight how this programme has stimulated collaborations and networking with international alumni.