Strengthening malaria genomics workforce in East Africa

The Africa Pathogen Genomics Initiative in collaboration with Infectious Diseases Research Collaboration in Uganda, the University of California, San Francisco, and Johns Hopkins University recently concluded a one-week hands-on training on Malaria Genomic Epidemiology and Data Analytics in Kampala, Uganda. The emergence and spread of drugresistant malaria, mutated parasites that skip detection by commonly used rapid diagnostic tests, and the resurgence of malaria transmission in multiple countries are major threats to the control and ultimate elimination of malaria. A recent expansion of malaria genomics in

Africa has enormous potential to help tackle these problems, but there is an urgent need to expand the workforce for the generation, analysis, interpretation and utilisation of malaria molecular surveillance (MMS) data to fully realise this potential. To fill this gap, experts collaborated to develop and deploy an interactive, hands-on workshop, bringing together programmatic and research personnel to understand the uses of malaria genomics in augmenting public health surveillance, discuss the challenges in implementing such technology, and work together across institutions and countries to identity practical solutions.