Successful Senegal bioinformatics workshop! Congratulations to all!
Our recent Senegal Bioinformatics workshop was led by UWARN partner, Institut de Recherche en Santé de Surveillance Epidemiologique et de Formation (IRESSEF) and CIGASS at Universite Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD). Drs. Tulio de Oliveira of the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI) and Luiz Carlos Junior Alcantara of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ) supported this workshop as their research teams are both at the forefront of bioinformatics capacity-building efforts. The workshop was also supported by CREID research centers, UWARN, PICREID, WAC-EID, and WARN-ID.
Workshop activities covered wet and dry lab components of genomic sequencing and the resulting bioinformatics. Attendees gained skills in wet lab processes, genome assembly, quality control, submissions to GISAID, SRA, and NCBI, data interpretation, and discussion. The workshop spanned one week of virtual sessions (October 3-7, 2022) and one week of in-person sessions (October 10-15, 2022). In total, 35 participants attended the virtual training, and 28 participants attended in person. Participants came from 11 African countries, as well as Pakistan, Cambodia, Thailand, and the United States.
Overall, this workshop successfully contributed to the objectives of rapid
deployment of viral sequencing in Senegal and greater West Africa, addressed capacity building, strengthened the research leadership of the participants, built relationships across institutions in Dakar and other West African countries, and enabled the advancement of experience and expertise in sequencing technology and data analysis.
The Workshop organizers gratefully acknowledge financial support from NIAID (1U01AI151698) and the Office of Global Research, US National Institutes of Health, UWARN, the University of Washington, WAC-EID, University of Texas Medical Branch, CERI, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation and Wanetam/ EDCTP.
Workshop Organization and Information
IRESSEF and UCAD in Senegal are organizing and hosting a bioinformatics workshop that will include one week of virtual sessions on October 3 - 7, 2022, and one week of in-person sessions in Senegal this October 10 - 15, 2022. Dr. Tulio de Oliveira of CERI and Dr. Luiz Alcantara Jr. of FIOCRUZ and their teams will assist in facilitating this training. They are at the forefront of capacity-building efforts in bioinformatics, with experience leading large-scale bioinformatics training programs. This workshop will be held with support from CREID research centers, UWARN, PICREID, WAC-EID, and WARN-ID. The training will cover wet and dry lab components of genomic sequencing and resulting bioinformatics, using SARS-CoV-2 as an example. Learners will gain skills in wet lab processes, genome assembly, quality control, submission to GISAID and NCBI, data interpretation, and discussion, among other skills. This workshop is available to laboratory technologists, post-doctoral research fellows, bioinformaticians, clinical infectious disease specialists, senior scientists, and other roles where training in bioinformatics would be helpful. For more information, please contact ws.bioinf22@iressef.org or Helene McOwen (UWARN Research Coordinator) at hmcowen@uw.edu.