NIHR Global Health Research Group on Establishing Regional Hubs for Genomic Surveillance in West Africa, at the Wellcome Sanger Institute – Phase II

National malaria control programmes (NMCPs) need effective tools to monitor resistance to control measures and to provide early warning if their interventions are causing resistance to rise to unacceptable levels so they can change strategy. Advances in genomic surveillance revolutionised the UK response to the COVID pandemic and demonstrated the power of this tool across the world. Proof-of-concept of malaria genetic surveillance in West Africa led by the University of Ghana (UG) and the MRC Unit in The Gambia (MRCG) has shown that data is better integrated into decision making if the genetic data is generated in-country and the NMCP is involved and engaged in the process.

Knowledge of genetics, genetic markers and genetic epidemiology is outside the domain of expertise of most NMCPs. Therefore, subject matter experts need to work with NMCPs to bridge the gap and support implementation. Discrete but connected hubs can support NMCP-managed activities in different countries and integrate data generated into regional analyses. Hub leaders also serve as advocates to connect these data to a global data sharing network by forging strong relationships in both directions and acting as stakeholder representatives. Bringing malaria genetic surveillance data across the world benefits public health. If a new form of parasite drug resistance or mosquito insecticide resistance emerges elsewhere in the world, it will greatly help an NMCP to monitor and manage the problem if the genomic analysis software is continually updated to incorporate the most useful genetic markers, which are likely to have been discovered elsewhere. However, those new to sharing data openly benefit from working closely with subject matter experts who are knowledgeable and sensitive to cultural, operational and technical challenges in achieving this. 

Genomic surveillance of COVID has been world-headline news, demonstrating the power of genetics for public health particularly in the UK. Rapid advances building on malaria genomic surveillance in West Africa have the potential to catalyse relationships and advancement in malaria. For example, building on capacity for malaria genetic surveillance in our current programme of research, scientists at UG applied these tools to sequence genomes of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from confirmed cases in Ghana. Combined with local leadership, genomic surveillance tools can be applied to pathogens and viruses for both endemic and pandemic infectious disease. 

Having established end-to-end implementation of genomic surveillance of malaria using Amplicon sequencing at UG and MRCG, we will work with leaders to instigate their own discrete but complementary regional networks including developing capacity for managing multi-partner collaborations. Hub leaders will work with their collaborators to provide training from sample collection through to the translation of genomic data into actionable knowledge. By the end of this project, we aim to be integrating these systems into the routine working practices of NMCPs in countries that are part of the regional networks of Ghana and The Gambia, and to provide a working example of how such systems could be deployed at other locations in Africa.

NIHR - Project DetailsMalariaGEN - Project Details

Capacity Building
Genetics and Genomics
Health Workforce
Surveillance

Sep 2022 — Sep 2025

$3.47M

Africa, Western
Ghana
Guinea
Nigeria
Senegal
Sierra Leone
The Gambia

Malaria Molecular Surveillance (MMS)