We welcome you to the 20th H3Africa Consortium Meeting to be held in Cape Town, South Africa at the  CTICC|Cape Town International Convention Centre. The Meeting is going back-to-back with the 14th International Congress of Human Genetics (ICHG) 2023  meeting will start on 22 – 26 February. In addition, International Rare Disease Day occurs on 28 February.

Organizing Team

Michelle Skelton

Project Manager


Rolanda Julius

Travel Fellowship submissions/Speed Presentations/Workshops


Confidence Mothiba

Tech: HtrainDB/Registration /Online/Social Media Platforms


Tanian Natus

Venue/Accommodation/Exhibition Booths/Industry Sponsorships/Guests/Covid Travel Updates


Francis Agamah

Agenda/ WG Sessions/Plenary Sessions/Scheduling


Shumi Chimombe

Press, Media engagement, Social Media, Communications, H3Africa Documentary logistics & Interviews/Workshops


Important Links

VISA Assistance
Contact: Charl Vollmer

Countries exempt from South African Visas

H3ABioNet 10-Years Showcase

Thank you to our sponsors

20th H3Africa Consortium Meeting: Cape Town; South Africa 27-28 February 2023

Pre Meeting Events- Sunday 26 February 2023
18:30 H3Africa Steering Committee Working Dinner IEC Working Dinner

H3Africa Open Day Monday: CTICC Auditorium 2 27 February 2023: CTICC Auditorium

Opening Session Chairs: Zane Lombard & Guida Landoure
08:15 Welcome: Zane Lombard & Guida Landoure (5 min)
08:20 IEC: Barry Bloom & Charmaine Royal (10 min)
Session 1: Showcase H3Africa Projects & Cross Consortium Collaborations; Chairs: Barry Bloom and Charmaine Royal
08:30 - 11:00 His Excellency Todd P. Haskell (US Embassy) (10 min)
PI Mogomotsi Matshaba & Gaone Retshabile; CAfGEN: celebrating a decade of excellence in collaborative genomic research in Africa (15 min & 3 min Q&A)
PI Nicola Mulder; Facilitating African Genomics (15 min & 3 min Q&A)
PI Ambroise Wonkam; Africa is the Next Frontier of Hearing Impairment Genes Discovery (15 min & 3 min Q&A)
PI Mayowa Owolabi & Paul Okekunle; Translating novel insights into interventions against stroke and cardiovascular diseases in Africa (15 min & 3 min Q&A)
Neil Hanchard & Ananyo Choudhury; H3Africa Consortium Genome Analysis: Bridging the Genomics Gap (15 min & 3 min Q&A)
Bamidele Tayo; PRS for CARdiometabolic Disorders IN African-ancestry PopuLations (CARDINAL): A H3Africa CVD-WG Collaboration (15 min & 3 min Q&A)
PI: Elizabeth Mayne & PI: Moses Joloba; The H3Africa Biorepositories in continental pathogen surveillance (15 min & 3 min Q&A)
PI: Mary Kasule; An Overview of Ethics & Community Engagement - Implementation of H3Africa Resources (15 min & 3 min Q&A)
11:00 Refreshment Break at the Strelitzia Restaurant
Session 2: Early Career Scientists & Emerging Leaders - Career, Scientific Advancement & Vision for Genomics (Presentations & Q&A) Chair: Eimear Kenny
11:30 - 12:30 Simone Richardson - Finding Function in Immunoglobulin Genetic Diversity (8 min & 2 min Q&A)
Gerald Mboowa - Building resilient bioinformatics ecosystems in Africa (8 min & 2 min Q&A)
Tinashe Chikowore - Impacted by H3Africa to soar to greater academic heights (8 min & 2 min Q&A)
Yosr Hamdi - New National and International Initiatives in Genomic Medicine: Towards Data Driven Healthcare (8 min & 2 min Q&A)
Segun Fatumo - The Emergence of Large-Scale Genomic Research and Genomics Leaders in Africa: The Ripple Effects of H3Africa (8 min & 2 min Q&A)
H3Africa Fellows Speed Presentations (Panel Q&A) Chair: Rolanda Julius
12:30 - 13:00 Alfred Ssekagiri - Progressing as a Bioinformatics H3Africa Fellow Working on Minority HIV-1 Drug Resistance
Ester Acen - The Inspiration to Research on Vitamin D Genetic Polymorhisms as a Potential Biomarker for TB Diagnosis
Fousseyni Kané - Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 variants by nanopore sequencing technology in Mali
Nora Nghochuzie Nganyewo - Recent increase in low complexity polygenomic infections and sialic acid-independent invasion pathways in Plasmodium falciparum from Western Gambia
Vincent Ntui-Njock - Low Parasite Infection Density and High Allelic Frequencies of Merozoite Surface Proteins-2 (Msp2) in Plasmodium Falciparum Isolates from Pregnant Women Across Malaria Ecozones in Cameroon
13:00 Lunch at the Strelitzia Restaurant
Session 3: Vision & Strategy for Genomic Medicine/Health Research in Africa - Big Picture Funding Perspective Chair: Philip Awadalla
Guest Speakers
13:50 - 15:00 Glaudina Loots - Departments of Science & Innovation, South Africa (15 min)
Thomas Kariuki - Science for Africa Foundation (25 min)
Francis Collins - National Institutes of Health(NIH) (10 min)
Guest Speakers: Private Sector (Pharma/Biotech/Industry) - mobilizing the private sector funding/efforts (5-10 min talks)
15:00 - 16:30 Craig Kinnear – MRC Genomics Platform (10 min)
Bridget Mogale - Illumina’s solutions for population scale genomics projects (10 min)
Junaid Gamieldien - Roche/Genentech - Partnering for accelerating research in genomics (10 min)
Kerry-Anne Pillay - An introduction to the Simply Spectacular team of Separations (10 min)
Lyndon Mitnaul - Regeneron (10 min)
Hélder Barbosa - MGI: Introduction to MGI and Patented state-of-the-art DNBSeq technology (10 min)
Acclaim Moila -Inqaba Biotechnical Industries - Local genomics services matter (5 min)
Guest Speakers: International Organizations
Alice Matimba - Wellcome Connecting Science: Collaborative Partnerships to scale up genomics training - (5 min)
Kobus Herbst - African Population Cohort Consortium: The Africa Population Cohorts Consortium – what are we busy with and what can we learn from H3Africa? (10 min)
Presenter Cora Vacher - Oxford Nanopore: The complete picture of the Human Genome (2-3 mim)
Eric van der Walt - Watchmaker Genomics (2-3 min)
Refreshments available at the Strelitzia Restaurant
Session 4 Panel Discussion - Chairs: Emerging Leaders & IEC members
16:30 - 18:30 Panelists: Craig Kinnear; Bridget Mogale; Junaid Gamieldien; Lyndon Mitnaul, Alice Matimba; Kobus Herbst; Kerry-Anne Pillay; Acclaim Moila; Hélder Barbosa
Topic Facilitators
Increasing Diversity in Genomics Research Philip Awadalla (IEC), Tinashe Chikowore (Emerging Leader), Segun Fatumo (Emerging Leader) (40 min)
Capacity Building Barry Bloom (IEC), Eimear Kenny (IEC), Simone Richardson (Emerging Leader)
Sustainability Charmaine Royal (IEC), Yosr Hamdi (Emerging Leader), Gerald Mboowa (Emerging Leader) (40 min)
Interest Groups - Breakout spaces available for further discussion (Refreshments Available)
18:30 Meeting Room 2.61-2.63 Facilitators: Simone Richardson & Tinashe Chikowore
Basic discovery/genomic Research
18:30 Meeting Room 2.64-2.66 Facilitators: Yosr Hamdi & Gerald Mboowa
Genomic Medicine
18:30 Meeting Room 2.41-2.42 Facilitators: Segun Fatumo
Genomic Surveillance
19:30 Cocktail/Networking/Exhibitors Event - Rooftop Terrace

H3Africa Internal Day Tuesday 28th February 2023; Rooftop Terrace

07:30 Steering Committee/IEC/Funder Breakfast Meeting
Session 5: H3Africa Fellows - Speed Presentations & Panel Q&A Chair: Baneye Maiga
08:30 - 09:40 Adekunle Fakunle - Indirect tobacco smoke exposure and first-ever Stroke among indigenous Africans in Ghana and Nigeria
Bethlehem Adnew - Building genomic and bioinformatics competence in Ethiopia: success stories and challenges
Edwin Moses Appiah - Comprehensive Microbial Network Analysis of Gastric Microbiome Revealed Insights into Microbial Interactions Affecting Gastric Carcinogenesis
Gerrye Mubungu Lumbono - Benchmarking the diagnostic yield of NGS testing for developmental disorders in Africa: the report of WGS in patients from the Democratic Republic of Congo
Henrietta Ifechukwude Monye - The burden, manifestations and parental willingness to test for paediatric genetic eye diseases in Ibadan, Nigeria - Evidence for planning
Ichrak Benamri - A young Moroccan PhD student’s acquired skills from H3Africa\H3ABioNet projects: Tracing a road in Bioinformatics
Nana Yaa Achiaa Karikari Agyemang - Genetic association of G6PD variants and Pre-eclampsia (PET) in Ghana
Salia Bamba - A Novel Candidate Gene Associated with Generalized Epilepsy in a Malian Family
Session 6: H3Africa Working Groups (60min)
10:00 Room: 2.6.1: Facilitator: Elizabeth Mayne; Rapporteur: Able Abbas
Biorepository Working Group
10:00 Room: 2.6.2-3: Facilitator: Neil Hanchard & Ananyo Choudhury; Rapporteur: Ichrak Benamri
Genome Analysis Working Group
10:00 Room: 2.6.4: Facilitator: Imane Allali; Rapporteur: Vincent Ntui-Njock
Microbiome Task Force
10:00 Room: 2.6.5-6: Facilitator: Erisa Mwaka; Rapporteur: Nana Yaa
Ethics & Community Engagement Working Group;
10:00 Room: 2.41: Facilitator: Aime Lumaka; Rapporteur: Gerrye Lumbono
Rare Disease Working Group
10:00 Room: 2.42: Facilitator: Sophia Osawe; Rapporteur: Baneye Maiga
Study Coordinators Working Group
10:00 Room: 2.43: Facilitator: Fouzia Radouni; Rapporteurs: Esther Acen
Education, Communication & Training Working Group
11:00 Refreshments at the Strelitzia Restaurant
Session 7 Chair: Philip Awadalla (10 min & 2 min Q&A/presentation); Rooftop Terrace
Theme (Common Disease) - Highlights & Future Plans
11:30 - 12:10 PI Mark Nicol - The role of the respiratory microbiome in acute and chronic lung disease in children (Virtual)
Dwomoa Adu & Akinlonu Ojo - H3Africa Kidney Disease Research Network resentation: "Apolipoprotein gene variants and the Pathogenesis of Kidney Disease in Africans and people of African descent"
Michele Ramsay - The value of African population cohorts with genomics data - the AWI-Gen experience
Adeyinka Ashaye - Clinical and Genetic Study of Glaucoma - A neurodegenerative disease
Theme (Implementation Science & Genomic Medicine) - Highlights & Future Plans Continued
12:10 - 13:00 Zane Lombard - Deciphering Developmental Disorders in Africa – expanding phenotypes using exome sequencing in an African setting
Leon Mutesa - Transgenerational Epigenomics of Trauma and PTSD in Rwanda
Guida Landoure - Clinical and Genetic Studies of Hereditary Neurological Disorders in Mali
13:00 Lunch at the Strelitzia Restaurant
Session 8 Chairs: Eimear Kenny (10 min & 2 min Q&A/presentation); Rooftop Terrace
Theme (ELSI) - Project Highlights & Future Plans
14:00 - 14:50 Joseph Ochieng - The Guideline Development Process: a Case Study of Uganda
Paul Sikwe - CEBioGen
Faith Musvipwa - Perspectives of researchers, science policy makers and research ethics committee members on the feedback of individual genetic research findings in African genomics research
Theme (Infectious Disease) Project Highlights & Future Plans
14:50 - 15:50 Annette McLeod - Genetic determinants of susceptibility to African sleeping sickness
Caleb Kibet - Building Bioinformatics Capacity in Eastern Africa: The EANBIT Story
Ezekiel Adebiyi - West African Sustainable Leadership and Innovation Training in Bioinformatics Research (WASLITBRe)
Christian Happi - A genome-wide association study identifies host genetic variants associated with susceptibility to Lassa Fever (virtual)
15:50 Refreshments available at the Strelitzia Restaurant
16:00 H3Africa Sustainability Session Chairs: Dwomoa Adu & Alash'le Abimiku; Rooftop Terrace
17:00 Closing by Guida Landoure and Barry Bloom - Brief Report Back (Roof top terrace balcony)
Consortium Networking Dinner at the Strelitzia Restaurant

Registered


224

Total registered