TBGEN Africa is one of the H3Africa projects funded by the Wellcome Trust through the Science for Africa Foundation (SFA). It aims to unravel the susceptibility to TB through an in depth investigation of the human and the pathogen (Mycobacterium tuberculosis). The project has been running since August 2018 in four African institutions that include the Armauer Hansen Research Institute (Ethiopia), the Mai Nefhi College of Health Sciences (Eritrea), University of Buea (Cameroon), and the Institute of Endemic Diseases (Sudan) in collaboration with Brighton and Sussex Medical school and University of Yawunde.
In the past five years, the project has been able to build human capacity in the area of genomics and Bioinformatics through engaging PhD and MSc students, providing practical trainings and linking to several H3Africa and H3Abionet training opportunities.
Through the generated Whole Genome Sequence (WGS) data, mapping of the genetic and geographic structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis population, and investigating determinants of drug resistance have been accomplished. The next step will focus on the human data analysis and the host pathogen interactions.
The project had a two day closeout meeting from June 21-22, 2024 where preliminary results and the future directions were presented and discussed.