H3ABioNet, a sustainable pan-African bioinformatics network for human heredity and health in Africa.

Nicola J Mulder (1) , Ezekiel Adebiyi (2) , Raouf Alami (3) , Alia Benkahla (4) , James Brandful (5) , Seydou Doumbia (6) , Dean Everett (7) , Faisal M Fadlelmola (8) , Fatima Gaboun (9) , Simani Gaseitsiwe (10) , Hassan Ghazal (11) , Scott Hazelhurst (12) , Winston Hide (13) , Azeddine Ibrahimi (14) , Yasmina Jaufeerally Fakim (15) , C Victor Jongeneel (16) , Fourie Joubert (17) , Samar Kassim (18) , Jonathan Kayondo (19) , Judit Kumuthini (20) , Sylvester Lyantagaye (21) , Julie Makani (22) , Ahmed Mansour Alzohairy (23) , Daniel Masiga (24) , Ahmed Moussa (25) , Oyekanmi Nash (26) , Odile Ouwe Missi Oukem-Boyer (27) , Ellis Owusu-Dabo (28) , Sumir Panji (29) , Hugh Patterton (30) , Fouzia Radouani (31) , Khalid Sadki (32) , Fouad Seghrouchni (33) , Özlem Tastan Bishop (34) , Nicki Tiffin (1) , Nzovu Ulenga (35)

1 University of Cape Town
2 Department of Computer and Information Sciences
3 Centre National de Transfusion Sanguine, Rabat
4 Institut Pasteur de Tunis
5 NMIMR - Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research [Accra, Ghana]
6 USTTB - Université des Sciences, des Techniques et des Technologies de Bamako
7 University of Liverpool
8 University of Khartoum
9 Institut National de Recherche Agronomique, Rabat
10 Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership
11 Université Mohammed Premier [Oujda]
12 WITS - University of the Witwatersrand [Johannesburg]
13 University of Sheffield, Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience
14 Department of Biotechnology Laboratory (Med-Biotech)
15 University of Mauritius
16 UIUC - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign [Urbana]
17 UGA UFRM - Université Grenoble Alpes - UFR Médecine
18 ASU - Ain Shams University
19 Uganda Virus Research Institute, Entebbe, Uganda
20 Centre for Proteomic and Genomic Research, Cape Town, South Africa
21 University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
22 Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences
23 Zagazig University
24 ICIPE - International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology
25 Institut de Chimie de Strasbourg
26 National Biotechnology Development Agency, Abuja, Nigeria
27 CERMES - Centre de Recherche Médicale et Sanitaire (Niamey, Niger)
28 KCCR - Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine
29 Department of Biomedical Sciences
30 UFS - University of the Free State [South Africa]
31 Institut Pasteur du Maroc
32 UM5 - Université Mohammed V de Rabat [Agdal]
33 Institut National d'Hygiène, Rabat, Morocco
34 Rhodes University, Grahamstown
35 Management and Development for Health, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

The application of genomics technologies to medicine and biomedical research is increasing in popularity, made possible by new high-throughput genotyping and sequencing technologies and improved data analysis capabilities. Some of the greatest genetic diversity among humans, animals, plants, and microbiota occurs in Africa, yet genomic research outputs from the continent are limited. The Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) initiative was established to drive the development of genomic research for human health in Africa, and through recognition of the critical role of bioinformatics in this process, spurred the establishment of H3ABioNet, a pan-African bioinformatics network for H3Africa. The limitations in bioinformatics capacity on the continent have been a major contributory factor to the lack of notable outputs in high-throughput biology research. Although pockets of high-quality bioinformatics teams have existed previously, the majority of research institutions lack experienced faculty who can train and supervise bioinformatics students. H3ABioNet aims to address this dire need, specifically in the area of human genetics and genomics, but knock-on effects are ensuring this extends to other areas of bioinformatics. Here, we describe the emergence of genomics research and the development of bioinformatics in Africa through H3ABioNet.

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Nicola J Mulder, Ezekiel Adebiyi, Raouf Alami, Alia Benkahla, James Brandful, et al.. H3ABioNet, a sustainable pan-African bioinformatics network for human heredity and health in Africa.. Genome Research, 2016, 26 (2), pp.271-7. ⟨10.1101/gr.196295.115⟩. ⟨pasteur-01459524⟩