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Human genetics and health in Africa (H3Africa) knot nineteenth session May 30 – June 1 in Abuja, Nigeria The 10-year National Institutes of Health (NIH) concluded mutual fund To stimulate continent-wide genomic research collaboration.
Researchers from all over the world gathered in Abuja, Nigeria on 19 H3Africa Consortium Meeting. (Photo courtesy of Bonnie Joubert / NIEHS)
joint venture of National Institutes of Health. The Wellcome Trust and the African Academy of Sciences H3Africa facilitates data collection on African genetic and biological variants that were not previously represented in studies on genetic and environmental factors contributing to human health and disease.
Jennifer Troyer, Ph.D., director of the H3Africa Program, said: Department of Genomics In the National human genome research institute (NHGRI).
Environmental factors in Africa
“For the first five years, they had to create a genomic infrastructure before they started working in environmental health,” said Kimberly McAllister, PhD, director of health scientist (program director) in the Genetics, Environment and Health Branch.
McAllister, along with Bonnie Joubert, PhD, who is also a management health scientist (program director) in the Population Health Branch, has empowered the Environmental Health Working Group and developed workshops at previous H3Africa meetings.
McAllister, left, and Joubert, right, have been instrumental in integrating genomics and environmental research in Africa. “Capacity building and training was a very ambitious effort,” Joubert said. (Image credits to Steve McCaw / NIEHS)
They encourage researchers to take the environment into account when trying to determine disease susceptibility. “There have been quite a few population studies where there has been a possibility to add environmental risk factors to their genetic studies,” McAllister said.
“The growing capacity for genome research in Africa, led by African scientists, has been a huge achievement,” Joubert added. “They can now investigate deeper characterization of disease susceptibility by calculating the effects of environmental and genetic risk factors. There are research pathways available now that might not have been available five years ago — certainly not 10 years ago.”
H3Africa Dynamic Warehouses
One in every six people alive today lives in AfricaHowever, Africans have been largely excluded from studies related to genomic health. Today, H3Africa has around 500 members and 445 interns involved in 51 projects, including research sites in more than 30 African countries. More than 100,000 participants were recruited for the studies.
The H3Africa Biorepository The program supports research capacity building through three regional biological repositories located in NigeriaAnd the UgandaAnd the South Africa. Currently, Biorepository in Uganda is acquiring equipment and training to perform environmental laboratory analyzes to measure chemicals in biological and environmental samples – analyzes historically performed in US or Western European laboratories. This information can be used to determine how environmental exposure affects health.
“All three vital warehouses Storage of biological and environmental samplesAnd the“ Joubert explained. “And as planned from the start, researchers outside of H3Africa can now submit requests to use these samples to test new hypotheses. In Uganda, Biorepository has expanded the existing laboratory’s ability to perform exposure analyzes without relying on international partners, a tremendous advance that will enable even more research based on Africa and African leadership.”