Center for Pathogen Genomics and Microbial Evolution Leads Workshop on Infectious Diseases

April 2025

The First International West Africa Symposium and Workshops on Infectious Diseases was held July 29 through August 3, 2024 in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Leadership from the Robert J. Havey, MD Institute for Global Health Center for Pathogen Genomics and Microbial Evolution (CPGME) was invited to present a three-day workshop on microbial sequencing bioinformatics. The course provided an introduction to analysis of sequencing for infectious diseases through didactic lectures and hands-on exercises. 

Workshop participants at the First International West Africa Symposium and Workshops on Infectious Diseases in Sierra Leone.

The event was hosted by the Quantitative Biosciences Institute (QBI) at the University of California, San Francisco and the University of Sierra Leone. The primary goal of the event was to bridge basic and clinical infectious disease research across countries in Africa, North America and the European Union.  

Presentation topics and discussion themes included:  

1) setting up computational environments for bioinformatics  

2) understanding next-generation sequencing of microbial pathogens including viruses, bacteria, and fungi 

3) performing genome sequence assemblies and alignments from both short- and long-read sequencing data 

4) performing and interpreting phylogenetic analyses 

5) using the R programming language for data visualization  

The workshop was presented by CPGME members Ramon Lorenzo-Redondo, PhD, bioinformatics director; Lacy Simons, lab coordinator, and Arghavan Alisoltanidehkordi, senior research associate. Charles Olwal from the Yemaachi Biotech Company in Ghana facilitated the event. Faculty, staff, and students from countries across west Africa attended.

Workshop participants joined from Sierra Leone, Nigeria, the Central African Republic, Uganda, and Cameroon.

This workshop introduced important concepts in analyzing infectious diseases data that is becoming increasingly important to track, treat, and prevent infections caused by viruses, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and emerging fungal infections. By providing an entry point to understand and apply effective computational analyses to these diseases, the public health workers and researchers who participated in this workshop learned skills to more effectively conduct infectious diseases investigations and studies within their own communities in West Africa.   

According to one workshop attendee, "the teachings were excellent, but even more was the relationship we had as a group. I felt relaxed, free and in the best state of mind to learn."

With more than 70 applicants, space limitations allowed for 25 workshop participants. As a result, organizers were able to prioritize effective learning environments. At the global event, participants hailed from Sierra Leone, Nigeria, the Central African Republic, Uganda, and Cameroon.  

The Second International West Africa Symposium and Workshops on Infectious Diseases will be held in Lagos, Nigeria in 2026. CPGME will again host a workshop on microbial sequencing and bioinformatics.

Ramon Lorenzo-Redondo, PhD is a member of the Robert J. Havey, MD Institute for Global Health, Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (NUCATS), and Institute for Public Health and Medicine (IPHAM). 

To learn more about the Center for Pathogen Genomics and Microbial Evolution, visit their website. 

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