Sustainable computational biology training for LMICs in Africa

H3ABioNet (Pan African Bioinformatics Network) plans to build regional networks throughout Africa of trainers and trainees competent in scientific computing and its application to life science and public health problems. They will partner with NGS Academy, part of Africa CDC’s Africa Pathogen Genomics Initiative, who aims to develop and deliver a comprehensive training framework for the implementation of next generation sequencing (NGS) for pathogen surveillance. This collaboration represents the following three aims:

• Develop regional networks of experienced trainers in computational biology;
• Create, curate and maintain a repository of training materials and other trainer resources; and
• Nurture a community of trainees centered around specific topic areas.

 
Building regional communities supported by experienced trainers requires centralized administrative effort. This proposal will provide such support and long-term sustainability of training impacts with a broad geographical reach, including low-middle income countries (LMICs) across Africa.