Pan-Africa network for genomic surveillance of poverty related diseases and emerging pathogens (PANGenS)

The overall goal is to improve the health of Africans with innovations in disease surveillance, equip the next generation of African scientists with cutting edge skills and strengthening south-south research collaborations. Following hypotheses are proposed:
1. Increased capacity in genomic epidemiology will enable more effective disease surveillance in Africa.
2. Increased capacity in biobanking and genomics data management and analysis in Africa will enhance regional surveillance of infectious diseases and encourage timely and effective responses to emerging pathogens.
3. Regional whole genome sequence-based surveillance will improve the detection of DR-TB and inform the development of more sensitive and specific rapid diagnostics for the detection and surveillance of DR-TB in Africa and elsewhere.
4. Regional genomic surveillance of malaria parasites will inform a pre-emptive detection of emerging DR parasites and measure the impact of programmatic interventions for a data driven decision making by policy makers.
5. Implementation of harmonized genomic data analysis tools will allow the creation of continent-wide surveillance networks able to identify cross-border spread of DR variants and emerging pathogens.
To achieve this, PANGenS will develop genomic epidemiology capacity across Africa by establishing a collaborative framework that brings together all expertise to perform trainings and implementation in all relevant components ranging from wet lab to bioinformatics, and establish proof-of-concept studies for TB and malaria in in selected partner countries.

Project details

Capacity Building
Epidemiology
Genetics and Genomics
Health Systems & Op. Research
Information Systems
Surveillance

Jul 2023 — Jun 2027

$5.4M

Benin
Gabon
Germany
Ghana
Mozambique
Namibia
Nigeria
South Africa
Switzerland
Tanzania
United Kingdom