Page 163 - SAMRC Annual Report 2024-2025

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

Department of Health, led by the DDG, Dr A Pillay, Programme (SA110K HGP). A workshop in 2024
and representatives from each of the thematic areas. brought together key stakeholders from research
A follow up priority setting exercise on HIV was held institutions, government agencies, and industry
in January 2025 with the research community and partners to discuss how to advance genomic
culminated in a request for applications aimed at research and precision medicine in South Africa. The
new HIV-specific product development investments first engagements of the consortium commenced
from 2025. from May 2024 and a proposal was submitted and
approved in September 2024 for funding towards
Precision Medicine is a key priority within the SHIP the pilot (10k) phase of the SA Human Genome
programme that is being advanced through a portfolio programme. The programme focuses on creating
of funded projects focused on pharmacogenomics a unified ecosystem, garnering the participation of
and precision medicine for various cancers and all national role players to implement a pilot phase
cardiometabolic diseases and is a key example of and set up a national centralized data repository.
the application of 5IR to healthcare. In the past year An assessment of infrastructure and technology
the pharmacogenomics portfolio was evaluated by needs, including cyber infrastructure solutions for
an expert panel to assess progress, determine the secure data storage and analysis was completed.
next steps for each project and identify opportunities The programme will use shared best practices and
for further product development. Two projects collaboration models for efficient genomic research
subsequently received follow on funding for product workflows to adapt and standardize sequencing
development of pharmacogenomics solutions in workflows across decentralized laboratory operations.
hypertension and breast cancer diagnostics. Partnerships are being established with industry
leaders such as Illumina, MGI, and Oxford Nanopore
An important highlight was progression of planning to foster knowledge exchange, technology transfer,
for the South African 110K Human Genome and capacity building.

The South African 110K Human Genome Programme Consortium met with industry partners to share the
proposed operational approach to this national effort.

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