Grantees share research updates and deepen genomics training at Biohub meeting
The Infectious Disease Grantee Community Meeting brought together 40 grantees from 17 countries across Africa, Asia, and South America. Grantees shared research updates on pressing issues in global health, including mpox, neuroinfections, and antimicrobial resistance. During the two-day meeting, held in New Orleans in Nov. 2024, participants explored use cases for metagenomic sequencing in infectious disease in low- and middle-income countries, learned new ways to visualize sequencing data using Python, and discussed best practices for obtaining funding internationally. Grantees also had the opportunity to network, build collaborations, and share successes and challenges in the field. The groups were co-funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the Gates Foundation and trained on metagenomic sequencing by the Rapid Response team at CZ Biohub San Francisco.
Unraveling the mystery of brain infections
A Malaysian laboratory uses metagenomics to accelerate the diagnosis of neuroinfections
Read more
Bolivian biologists building a better future for science and health
Three generations of scientists visit CZ Biohub SF to learn metagenomic sequencing techniques and analysis.
Read more
Building a global network of disease detectives
In September of 2008, a young woman living in a suburb of Lusaka, Zambia’s capital, was stricken by a mysterious illness driven by an unknown virus. As headache, fever, and body aches gave way to more frightening symptoms including seizures and facial swelling, the woman was admitted to a local hospital before being transferred to a facility in Johannesburg, South Africa, some 740 miles away. Her symptoms did not improve in Johannesburg, and healthcare workers from the two hospitals soon began to suffer the same symptoms, which progressed further to brain swelling and organ failure. By mid-October, the virus — dubbed “Lujo” for the two cities it now affected — had killed four people and left a fifth with severe medical complications. And then, it simply disappeared.
Read more
Stay calm and keep training!
We were thrown a curve ball in 2020, but didn’t let the pandemic stop us from our training activities. We participated in a number of online courses this year – and one particular highlight was virtually traveling to eastern Africa to conduct a course in genomics and bioinformatics. During our week-long course CZ Biohub Rapid Response teamed up with colleagues at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to introduce the use of next-generation sequencing and analytical tools for studying the cause, source, and dynamics of infectious disease, and for utilization in disease outbreak response efforts.
Partner Highlight: Building up their pipeline!
Congratulations to the lab team at the Child Health Research Foundation (CHRF) in Dhaka, Bangladesh for receiving their brand new sequencer!
Child Health Research Foundation
