NIH and Wellcome Trust Announce H3Africa Initiative

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In the ten years since the Human Genome Project was completed genomics has progressed in leaps and bounds, but surprisingly little has been about Africa or by African scientist.

The vast majority of genomic studies have been of American, Asian and European genomes, with just one genome-wide association study (looking at malaria) based on an African population – surprising considering that around one billion people live on the African continent.

That makes today’s announcement all the more exciting. A new partnership from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Wellcome Trust looks to fund population-based genetic studies in Africa. The $38 million Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3 Africa) Project will also build capacity for African scientists to do genomic studies in their home countries.