how we began

The Xheladin & Xhufe Morina Foundation grew out of BrainCamp Kosovo, a project initiated in 2018 by Dr. Egzona Morina, then a doctoral student in neuroscience at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, University College London.

BrainCamp Kosovo was a week-long course, held in April 2018, where PhD students from UCL taught neuroscience to ATOMI students in Prishtina. Established in 2011, ATOMI is an organization that identifies and supports children with extraordinary intelligence (IQ 140 and above, 99.6 percentile rank, top 0.4% of the population).

Struck by the raw intelligence of the ATOMI students but saddened by the lack of opportunities afforded to this talented group of young people, Dr. Egzona Morina founded this charity with the hope that these students could pursue education and careers in STEM outside of Kosovo.

our mission

The foundation's core mission is to expand opportunities for students in Kosovo to pursue STEM education and research, both locally and internationally. This mission is advanced through five key areas:

  • Environmental Neuroscience Research (ENRI): Supporting original research through the Environmental Neuroscience Research Incubator. ENRI engages youth in hands-on research, builds local research capacity, and fosters global scientific partnerships.
  • Scholarships: Providing financial aid for students attending educational initiatives outside of Kosovo.
  • Support for academic travel: Funding travel for exceptional students to participate in interviews, internships, or academic programs abroad.
  • STEM educator engagement: Sponsoring visits to Kosovo by specialized educators and organizing conferences to promote collaboration and knowledge exchange.
  • Educational resources: Donating essential equipment to strengthen STEM learning environments in Kosovo.

Kosovo has the youngest population of any country in Europe and thus the most opportunity for growth and future success. That success is reliant on the education of its young population. It is our hope that students supported by XHMF will not only become successful individuals, but will return to Kosovo and contribute to the education of future generations.

our team

people who make it happen.

Dr. Egzona Morina

Dr. Egzona Morina

founder / principal investigator

PhD in Neuroscience from the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre at UCL. Postdoctoral research at MIT. PI of ENRI and affiliated faculty at Harvard's Center for Climate Health and the Global Environment.

Dr. Federico Claudi

Dr. Federico Claudi

board member / treasurer

PhD in Neuroscience at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre (UCL), postdoctoral work at MIT. Senior Machine Learning Applied Scientist at Precision Neuroscience.

Prof. Robert Froemke

Prof. Robert Froemke, PhD

board member

PhD from UC Berkeley; postdoc at UCSF. Professor of otolaryngology and neuroscience & physiology at NYU School of Medicine.

Naime Hoxha

Naime Hoxha

board member

Clinical psychologist working with gifted children in Kosovo. Executive director of the ATOMI Institute. External expert for the Ministry of Education.

Prof. Matthew Bonds

Prof. Matthew Bonds, PhD

board member

PhD in economics and a PhD in disease ecology. Associate professor of global health at Harvard Medical School. Co-founder & scientific director of PIVOT.

Prof. Visar Berisha

Prof. Visar Berisha, PhD

board member

Joint appointment at Arizona State University in Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering and the College of Health Solutions, and Associate Dean of Research and Commercialization,

Lis Beqiraj

Lis Beqiraj

chief operating officer

Founder of AL Pharm, a pharmaceutical company in Kosovo. Eleven years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry.

Elira Bytyqi

Elira Bytyqi

social media / science liaison

Second-year student at the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Prishtina. Passionate about neuroscience and technology.

"nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood."
— Marie Curie