EveryoneGenome

Avi was a founder of the EveryoneGenome project and campaigns for support and wider awareness of the need to improve genetic knowledge and health outcomes for people of African descent.

EveryoneGenome’s mission is to build a bio-database with 1,000,000 DNA records gathered from Black Africans. This is important because nearly all medicines have been developed and trialled for effectiveness based on research among white populations in Europe and North America.

As a result, many medicines are far less effective when used by people of African descent, and in some cases can cause ADRs (Adverse Drug Reactions).

For example, codeine was banned in Ethiopia because a high proportion of its population carries a gene variant that converts codeine into morphine, causing respiratory problems and in some cases, death.

For Black people to benefit from medicines and healthcare that are both safe and suited to their genetics, the EveryoneGenome biobank is essential to diversifying our global knowledge of genome variants among different populations.

Avi supported a big step forward for EveryoneGenome in November 2022, when a new South Africa-UK health and science partnership was announced during President Cyril Ramaphosa's first state visit to the UK, which was also the first state visit hosted by King Charles III. Avi participated as an Honorary Consul for South Africa in the UK.