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African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases

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Logo showing the map of Africa with DNA strands and phylogenetic tree; African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases written on it
ACEGID logo

The African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID), based at Redeemer’s University, Ede, Nigeria, is a consortium of West African academic and medical institutions partnering for research and training.

Background

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ACEGID was founded in 2014, with initial funding for the program coming from the World Bank. [1] The goal of the program is to serve as a center of excellence for research and training in genomics, with a focus on infectious disease.[2] Professor Christian Happi is the Director and Principal Investigator of the centre.[1]

Consortium Members and Partners

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The members of the consortium in Nigeria include Redeemer’s University, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua Edo State, Federal Medical Center, Owo, General Hospital Ikorodu, Lagos and Alex Ekueme Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki. Regional consortium members include Kenema Government Hospital, Sierra Leone and Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar (Senegal).[1]  

The centre works closely with national, regional and global public health institutions including the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), the Africa Center for Disease Control[3] and the World Health Organization, Harvard University, the Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology,[4][5] Tulane University, The Scripps Institute, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, University of Nebraska Medical Center and University of Cambridge. Private sector partners including Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Consortium,  Illumina, Dimagi,[6] Zalgen LLC, Fathom Inc, Microsoft and Access Bank PLC, Lagos, Nigeria.

Education

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ACEGID's Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees programs in Molecular Biology and Genomics are operated in conjunction with Redeemer's University's Department of Biological Sciences. The programs are accredited by AQAS.[7]

Research

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ACEGID's research focusses on the use of advanced genomics tools and techniques for investigating infectious diseases, performing surveillance, developing diagnostics, drugs and vaccines, and providing information needed by public health institutions for evidence-based policy-making.[2][8] The centre also works with partners to develop field-deployable infectious diseases diagnostics.[9] Some of ACEGID's research projects include:

  • Genomic characterization and surveillance of microbial threats in Africa[10]
  • Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence for Development Impact (ACE Impact)[8]
  • Sentinel - a pandemic preemption and response system[4][11][12][13][3]
  • Combatting Antimicrobial Resistance in Africa Using Data Science (CAMRA)[14]

Funding

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In addition to the World Bank funding through which the centre was founded, ACEGID has received research funding from various organizations including United States National Institutes of Health,[10][14] Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3 Africa),[10] Wellcome Trust, and United Kingdom Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the ELMA Philanthropies,[15] Skoll Foundation,[16] as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,[1] among others.

Achievements and awards

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ACEGID's accomplishments include:

In addition, ACEGID's work has received several national and international recognitions.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "ACEGID – ACE – African Higher Education Centres of Excellence". Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  2. ^ a b "Africa's Scientific Solutions and Innovation in the Fight Against COVID-19". World Bank. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  3. ^ a b "Africa CDC ramps up training on SARS-CoV-2 genomics and bioinformatics". Africa CDC. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  4. ^ a b "ACEGID + Broad Institute | The Audacious Project". audaciousproject.org. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  5. ^ "Scientific coalition developing surveillance system for detecting emerging pandemics in real-time". Broad Institute. 2020-05-11. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  6. ^ "Dimagi-Supported Project Announced As Part of 2020 Audacious Project :: Dimagi Blog". Dimagi. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  7. ^ "The Chronicle of Education | WB Rewards 10 Nigerian ACEs for Success in International Accreditation". The Chronicle of Education. 2019-10-29. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  8. ^ a b "African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID)". ACE. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  9. ^ a b "Redeemer's Varsity develops 10mins Lassa fever test-kit". Vanguard News. 2016-02-07. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  10. ^ a b c "Genomic Characterization and Surveillance of Microbial Threats in West Africa". H3Africa. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  11. ^ Botti-Lodovico, Yolanda; Nair, Parvathy; Nosamiefan, Dolo; Stremlau, Matthew; Schaffner, Stephen; Agignoae, Sebastian V.; Aiyepada, John Oke; Ajogbasile, Fehintola V.; Akpede, George O.; Alhasan, Foday; Andersen, Kristian G. (August 2021). "The Origins and Future of Sentinel: An Early-Warning System for Pandemic Preemption and Response". Viruses. 13 (8): 1605. doi:10.3390/v13081605. hdl:1721.1/132714.
  12. ^ Happi, Pardis Sabeti and Christian (April 2020), A virus detection network to stop the next pandemic, retrieved 2022-02-09
  13. ^ a b "Research in the time of a pandemic: SENTINEL- A proactive, early warning system to pre-empt future pandemics | For Researchers | Springer Nature". www.springernature.com. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  14. ^ a b "RePORT ⟩ RePORTER". reporter.nih.gov. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  15. ^ "African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases, Redeemer's University (ACEGID)". ELMA Philanthropies. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  16. ^ "Skoll | A Pandemic Surveillance System for the Planet". Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  17. ^ Andersen, Kristian G.; Shapiro, B. Jesse; Matranga, Christian B.; Sealfon, Rachel; Lin, Aaron E.; Moses, Lina M.; Folarin, Onikepe A.; Goba, Augustine; Odia, Ikponmwonsa; Ehiane, Philomena E.; Momoh, Mambu (2015-08-13). "Clinical Sequencing Uncovers Origins and Evolution of Lassa Virus". Cell. 162 (4): 738–750. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2015.07.020. ISSN 0092-8674. PMC 4537774. PMID 26276630.
  18. ^ "First African SARS-CoV-2 genome sequence from Nigerian COVID-19 case". Virological. 2020-03-06. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  19. ^ "Nigeria na first for Africa to do 'sequence genome' of coronavirus, see wetin e mean". BBC News Pidgin. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  20. ^ "BBC World Service - HARDtalk, Christian Happi: Can Africa become a world leader in vaccine development?". BBC. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  21. ^ Happi, Anise N.; Ogunsanya, Olusola A.; Oguzie, Judith U.; Oluniyi, Paul E.; Olono, Alhaji S.; Heeney, Jonathan L.; Happi, Christian T. (2021-07-01). "Microbial metagenomic approach uncovers the first rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus genome in Sub-Saharan Africa". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): 13689. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-91961-2. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 8249450. PMID 34210997.
  22. ^ "ACEGID wins Nigeria Academy of Science gold medal". The Nation Newspaper. 2021-12-11. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  23. ^ "KUNA : Al-Sumait Prize for African Development announces list of winners - Science & Technology - 08/03/2022". www.kuna.net.kw. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
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