The South African Medical Research Council extramural Bioinformatics Unit (SAMRCBU) based at the South African National Bioinformatics Institute (SANBI) at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) has started the 2022 calendar year with its calendar-packed schedule to support pan-African data analytics for pandemic response. Back in September 2021 in partnership with the WHO regional office for Africa the SAMRCBU set up a regional center of excellence for genomic surveillance and bioinformatics in Cape Town. Today, 21st February 2022, the SAMRC Bioinformatics Unit started its pathogen genome analysis training programme online for SADC countries to strengthen national public health institutes. The virtual training course will be a prelude to hands-on data analytics training that will follow every quarter.
The SAMRC Bioinformatics Unit has been leading data governance and data infrastructure deployment over the past two years in Africa as part of its role in the Pan-African NGS Pathogen Genomics Network. “Our role in leading the design specification of a data model to support pathogen genomics data management, storage and re-use has been an exciting journey during the past two years. To shift gears now to the next phase of scaling up our training with WHO-AFRO and supporting future trainings with Africa CDC is rewarding because it demonstrates that we have meticulously shaped a vision of building systems that can response to future pandemics” says Professor Christoffels, director of the SAMRC Bioinformatics Unit.
The SAMRC Bioinformatics Unit has led the Global Public Health Alliance for Genomic Epidemiology (PHA4GE) during the past two years through active engagement with National Public Health Institutes to formulate key infrastructure requirements needed to standup a pandemic response that informs a public health action. The current training programme will target laboratory personnel who generate and analyse genomic data, and technical support staff who strive to maintain data-intensive computing environments. In partnership with the UWC eLearning Department, they have secured an online teaching environment that facilitates continuous engagement with participants once training sessions are concluded. Postgrad students within the South African National Bioinformatics Institute provide online tutor support to all participants for extended periods of time after their training module is completed.
Contact details
Alan Christoffels alan@sanbi.ac.za