{"id":7941,"date":"2020-08-04T21:48:34","date_gmt":"2020-08-04T19:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/h3africa.org\/?page_id=7941"},"modified":"2022-06-02T16:38:57","modified_gmt":"2022-06-02T14:38:57","slug":"cafgen","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/h3africa.org\/index.php\/cafgen\/","title":{"rendered":"Collaborative African Genomics Network (CAfGEN)"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row css_animation=”fadeInDown”][vc_column][vc_column_text css_animation=”none” css=”.vc_custom_1596637742268{margin-top: 36px !important;}”]
H3Africa Collaborative Research Center<\/em><\/a><\/h6>\n

Collaborative African Genomics Network (CAfGEN)<\/h1>\n

The Goal: CAfGEN aims to use novel genomics technologies to better understand HIV and tuberculosis (TB) in African children, and also to provide a robust foundation for expanding the use and knowledge of genomics on the African continent.<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Project Leads<\/h3>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″]
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Dr. Mogomotsi Matshaba<\/h4>

Botswana-Baylor Children\u2019s Clinical Center of Excellence <\/p>

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Dr. Sununguko Mpoloka<\/h4>

University of Botswana<\/p>

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Dr. Adeodata Kekitiinwa <\/h4>

Baylor College of Medicine Children\u2019s Foundation-Uganda <\/p>

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Dr. Moses Joloba<\/h4>

Makerere University <\/p>

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Dr. Graeme Mardon<\/h4>

Baylor College of Medicine <\/p>

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Dr. Bhekumusa Lukhele <\/h4>

Baylor College of Medicine Children\u2019s Foundation-Swaziland<\/p>

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\u00a0The Problem<\/h3>\n

While HIV and TB are devastating on a global scale, the African continent is disproportionally affected by these diseases. Additionally, HIV infection progresses more rapidly in children than in adults, but little research has been undertaken to understand why. Similarly, TB is common in Africa and is particularly difficult to diagnose in children, as the underlying mechanisms are not well understood.<\/p>\n

Project Strategy<\/h3>\n
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  1. Expand studies in Africa on the genomics of HIV and TB progression in children with HIV infection.<\/li>\n
  2. Provide short and long-term support of genomics and bioinformatics training in Africa.<\/li>\n
  3. Engage local communities in Botswana, Uganda, and Eswatini to discuss the ethical, legal, and social issues related to genomics research.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Outcomes & Impact<\/h3>\n

    CAfGEN has used modern genomic techniques to identify genes that may be influencing HIV and TB progression in children, paving the way for future studies. The group has also leveraged scientific studies to develop genomics capacity, technology, and expertise in Uganda, Eswatini, and Botswana, where there was little existing infrastructure for such research. To date, 2 CAfGEN PhD student have successfully graduated and been absorbed by their respective countries.<\/p>\n

    They\u2019ve also effectively engaged local communities in addressing ethical, legal and social issues related to genomics research while educating communities through a comic book series, written in the 8 most commonly spoken languages in Africa, making complex scientific concepts accessible to the public in a highly effective manner.<\/p>\n

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    Project Sites<\/h3>\n

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    A. Botswana<\/strong>
    Botswana-Baylor Children\u2019s Clinical Center of Excellence and University of Botswana<\/p>\n

    B. Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)<\/strong>
    Baylor College of Medicine Children\u2019s Foundation-Swaziland<\/p>\n

    C. Uganda<\/strong>
    Baylor College of Medicine Children\u2019s Foundation-Uganda and Makerere University College of Health Sciences<\/p>\n

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    Non-African Collaborators<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

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    USA<\/strong>: Baylor College of Medicine<\/p>\n

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    \u00a0<\/h3>\n

    Funding<\/h3>\n
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    This work is supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of the Director (OD), the Office of AIDS Research (OAR), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) grant number U54AI110398.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

    \u00a0<\/h3>\n

    Additional Resources<\/h3>\n

    CAfGEN Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n

    Baylor-Botswana Center of Excellence\u00a0<\/a><\/p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_btn title=”Project Publications (PubMed)” style=”custom” custom_background=”#c12000″ custom_text=”#ffffff” shape=”round” align=”center” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fpubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2F%3Fterm%3DAI110398%255BGrant%2BNumber%255D%26sort%3Ddate%26size%3D200|title:CAfGEN%20PubMed%20Search|target:%20_blank|”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_btn title=”Scientific Description and Aims (NIH RePORT)” style=”custom” custom_background=”#c12000″ custom_text=”#ffffff” shape=”round” align=”center” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fprojectreporter.nih.gov%2Fproject_info_description.cfm%3Faid%3D9782839%26icde%3D51125151%26ddparam%3D%26ddvalue%3D%26ddsub%3D%26cr%3D6%26csb%3Ddefault%26cs%3DASC%26pball%3D|title:CAfGEN%20NIH%20RePORT|target:%20_blank|”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_btn title=”Download a PDF of this page” style=”custom” custom_background=”#c12000″ custom_text=”#ffffff” shape=”round” align=”center” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fh3africa.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2022%2F06%2FCAfGEN_H3ACommDoc.pdf|title:CAfGEN%20Comm%20Doc|target:%20_blank|”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]

    Return to H3A Projects Page<\/a><\/em><\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Advanced genetic and genomic technologies promise to transform our understanding and approach to human health and disease. Such genomic analyses are now common in Western populations of European descent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[78],"class_list":["post-7941","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-projects","tag-nih-projects-collaborative-centers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/h3africa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/h3africa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/h3africa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/h3africa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/h3africa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7941"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/h3africa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12470,"href":"https:\/\/h3africa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7941\/revisions\/12470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/h3africa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/h3africa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/h3africa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}