African Society for Laboratory Medicines (ASLM) Conference
Transforming Health Security and Pandemic Preparedness: Charting a Way Forward for Genomic Surveillance
Genomic surveillance is a complex and resource-intensive undertaking that requires collaboration and partnerships across multiple sectors, including public health, academia, and industry. Both FHI 360 and Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) recognize the importance and timeliness of addressing issues related to expanding genomic surveillance capacity in the Africa region including leveraging next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies for strengthening disease detection and surveillance. In collaboration with Africa CDC and the African Society of Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) under the Future of Diagnostics in Africa initiative, FHI 360 and co-host CHAI held a side seminar that brought together international leaders including local implementers and stakeholders from regional agencies, national labs, donors, and industry to participate in a roundtable discussion on the latest innovations in genomic technology, as well as the current state and future directions for genomic surveillance in Africa and globally.
CO-HOSTS
Renuka Gadde
Senior Advisor of Global Diagnostics
CHAI
Dr. Yasser Sanad
Zoonotics and One Health Technical Advisor
FHI 360
Trevor Peter
Senior Director of Global Diagnostics
CHAI
Mungai David Ndung’u
Regional Diagnostics Advisor
FHI 360
PANELISTS
Sofonias Kifle Tessema
Program Lead – Pathogen Genomics
Africa CDC
Edwin Shumba
Portfolio Lead
African Society for Laboratory Medicine
Dr. Leonard Kingwara
Head, Genomics and Molecular Surveillance Laboratory Unit
Ministry of Health, Kenya
Tom Berkovits
Senior Director
Illumina
Dr. Justin O’Grady
Senior Director of Translational Applications Oxford Nanopore Technologies
Barend Jansen Van Vuuren
Global Health Equity Emerging Market Manager Thermo Fisher Scientific
Dr. Fatim Cham-Jallow
Senior Medical Laboratory Specialist
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria