Genomics of Diseases in Wildlife Workshop; June 2-9, 2019; May/June, 2020; Fort Collins, CO

野生动物种群可能会受到传染病爆发和传播的严重影响。这方面的例子包括白鼻症，它在美国对蝙蝠种群造成了毁灭性的破坏，以及壶菌的爆发，导致世界各地青蛙数量的下降。野生动物的一些疾病，如狂犬病、埃博拉病毒和西耐克病毒，可能会在人中引起疾病暴发，而其他野生动物的感染，如布鲁氏菌病和非洲猪瘟，可能会对家畜和牲畜造成致命的影响。非凡的新工具极大地提高了我们检测感染的能力，并理解为什么它有时是毁灭性的，有时不是。虽然这些新技术使现在是一个新发现和新理解的令人兴奋的时刻，这将改善野生动物疾病管理，但许多研究人员将从使用这些技术的培训中受益。为了满足这一需求，我们通过一个名为“野生动物疾病基因组学”(GDW)的强化研讨会，提供使用真实世界数据的实践培训。2017年和2018年开设的前两期讲习班非常成功，为近50名研究生、博士后研究员和下一代DNA测序分析教师提供了培训，用于野生动物疾病项目。展望未来，该项目将向12-14名有经济需要的研究生或研究员(美国公民)提供奖学金，以参加2019年和2020年的研讨会。我们将优先使用这些资金来加强不同的或代表不足的少数群体的参与，并已成功地招募妇女和不同的参与者，以最大限度地提高培训效果。这项财政援助还将促进建立一个有凝聚力的、有效的科学界，在控制传染性野生动物疾病方面取得突破。例如，我们最近出版了一份手稿，帮助科学界确定下一步的关键挑战，GDW研讨会的校友还参与了一个列表服务器，以促进越来越多对GDW问题感兴趣和具有专业知识的研究人员之间的交流。基因组科学的最新技术进步，以及日益负担得起的下一代测序(NGS)分析成本，已经结合在一起，产生了监测、检测和重建影响野生动物种群的病原体过去、现在和未来的作用的强大工具。因此，野生动物研究人员处于独特的地位，可以将生态、生物和进化研究与此类基因组技术相结合，在疾病研究中利用前所未有的“大数据”工具；然而，大多数研究人员缺乏使用这些计算密集型方法所需的培训和专业知识。之前的研讨会包括讲座、日常计算机实验室和对真实世界NGS数据的分析。以前的讲习班提供了关于使用基因组工具调查野生动物寄主物种与其病原体之间广泛相互作用的综合培训，并在讲师、嘉宾演讲者和参与者之间提供了独特的网络机会。该项目将为另外两年的讲习班提供支助。基金将作为奖学金授予有兴趣获得这一新兴领域技能的美国研究生和博士后研究员。该奖项将鼓励早期职业研究人员的参与。参与者将学习现代基因组学技术，并产生强大的基因组解决方案，以改善野生动物疾病对当地、地区和全球的影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Wildlife populations can be drastically affected by the outbreak and transmission of infectious diseases. Examples of this include white nose syndrome which is devastating bat populations in the US, and Chytrid fungus outbreaks that have caused declines in frog populations worldwide. Some diseases of wildlife, for example, Rabies, Ebola, and West Nike Virus, can cause outbreaks of disease in people, while other infections of wildlife, such as Brucellosis and African Swine Fever, can be fatal to domestic animals and livestock. Extraordinary new tools greatly improve our ability to detect infection and understand why it sometimes is devastating and sometimes not. While these new technologies make this an exciting time for new discoveries and understanding that will improve wildlife disease management, many researchers would benefit from training in their use. To address this need, we offer hands-on training with real-world data through an intensive workshop "Genomics of Disease in Wildlife" (GDW). The first two workshops offered in 2017 and 2018 were very successful and provided training for nearly 50 graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and faculty in Next Generation DNA Sequencing analysis to use in projects about wildlife diseases. Going forward, this project will provide scholarships to 12-14 graduate students or fellows (US citizens) with financial need to attend workshops in 2019 and 2020. We will preferentially use these funds to enhance diverse or underrepresented minority participation and have been successful in recruiting women and diverse attendees to maximize training impacts. This financial assistance will also facilitate building a cohesive, effective scientific community making breakthroughs in control of infectious wildlife diseases. For example, we have recently published a manuscript helping the scientific community identify critical next challenges, and the GDW workshop alumni are also involved in a listserv to promote communications among a growing number of researchers with interest and expertise in GDW problems. Recent technological advances in genomic sciences, and increasingly affordable Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) assay costs, have coalesced to result in powerful tools to monitor, detect, and reconstruct the past, present, and future role of pathogens impacting wildlife populations. Wildlife researchers are thus uniquely positioned to merge ecological, biological, and evolutionary studies with such genomic technologies to exploit unprecedented "Big Data" tools in disease research; however, most researchers lack the training and expertise required to use these computationally intensive methodologies. Previous workshops have consisted of lectures, daily computer labs, and analysis of real-world NGS data. Previous workshops have provided comprehensive training in the use of genomic tools for investigations of a broad range of interactions between wildlife host species and their pathogens, and provided unique networking opportunities among instructors, guest speakers, and participants. This project will provide support for two additional years of workshops. Funds will be awarded as scholarships for US graduate students and post-doctoral fellows interested in obtaining skills in this emerging area. This award will encourage participation by early career researchers. Participants will learn modern genomics techniques and generate powerful genomic solutions to ameliorate the local, regional, and global impact of wildlife disease.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.