African Tuberculosis Bioinformatics Training Program

项目摘要 非洲结核病生物信息学培训计划将是一个合作性的教育和能力开发项目， 分子生物学和人类遗传学系与生物技术中心之间的合作项目， 在南非斯泰伦博斯大学（SU）的formatics和计算生物学。它将包括其他非洲国家 来自Fred哈钦森癌症研究中心的具有强大生物信息学背景的合作伙伴和美国研究人员 中心和国家少数民族健康和健康差异研究所，NIH。在D 71计划阶段， 一个新的生物信息学课程，重点是结核病（TB），沿着评价标准，将开发- 通过适用的机构和国家机构获得的开放和批准。此外该 规划补助金将用于规划学员的职业发展活动和教师发展举措 为教师和中低收入国家（LMIC）合作伙伴提供培训。合作伙伴网络将扩大 在D43资助期间，为每个学生提供一名美国和一名非洲导师。拟议的培训 该计划将解决缺乏训练有素的具有结核病和其他传染病专业知识的生物信息学家的问题。 我们提出了一个硕士课程，在统计学，生物信息学和结核病生物学有一个积极的课程组成部分 随后是一个由世界级结核病科学家指导的研究项目， 非洲南部的生物信息学景观。生物信息学的多学科性质包括数学- 数学、统计学、信息技术和生物学，很少有学生在所有的组成部分都很强。逆 然而，许多生物信息学博士候选人准备不足。拟议的计划将奠定 为未来传染病创新和领导力所需的更好装备的学生奠定基础 research.将开发的硕士课程将包括6个月的讲座块（主题包括统计， 生物信息学和TB生物学）。然后，学员将在SU主机实验室内嵌入2个月， 随后参观了一家美国主机的实验室。学员将专注于他们的研究项目， 剩余的学位。在D 71规划阶段，一套 将开展职业发展活动，以促进学生成为独立的科学家， tists。此外，通过与南非历史上处于不利地位的机构的伙伴协商， 其他LMIC合作伙伴，将制定一个定制的讲习班计划，以加强监督和男子， 存储能力。规划阶段的一个重要重点将是制定一项监测和评价计划， 计划总之，拟议的工作将汇集一个结核病研究人员、生物信息技术人员、 科学家，美国导师和LMIC合作伙伴开发一个以结核病为重点的生物信息学培训计划， 疾病研究。

PROJECT SUMMARY The African Tuberculosis Bioinformatics Training Program will be a collaborative educational and capacity de- velopment program between the Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, and the Centre for Bioin- formatics and Computational Biology at Stellenbosch University (SU), South Africa. It will include other African partners and US investigators with strong bioinformatics background from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, NIH. During the D71 planning phase, a new Bioinformatics curriculum with emphasis on tuberculosis (TB), along with evaluation criteria, will be devel- oped and approvals obtained for these through the applicable institutional and national bodies. In addition, the planning grant will be used to plan career development activities for trainees and faculty development initiatives for preceptors and low- and middle-income country (LMIC) partners. The network of partners will be expanded to provide one US and one African mentor for each student during the D43 funding. The proposed Training Program will address a dearth of trained bioinformaticians with expertise in TB and other infectious diseases. We propose a MSc program with a vigorous coursework component in statistics, bioinformatics and TB biology followed by a research project mentored by world-class TB scientists to make the biggest impact on the current bioinformatics landscape in Southern Africa. The multidisciplinary nature of bioinformatics encompasses math- ematics, statistics, information technology and biology, and few students are strong in all the components. Con- sequently, many doctoral candidates in bioinformatics are poorly prepared. The proposed program will lay the foundation for better-equipped students necessary for future innovation and leadership in infectious disease research. The MSc program to be developed will include a 6-month lecture block (with topics including Statistics, Bioinformatics and TB Biology). Trainees will then be embedded within the SU host laboratory for 2 months, followed by a visit to the laboratory of a US-based host. The trainees will focus on their research project for the remainder of the degree period. During the D71 planning phase, the content and evaluation criteria for a suite of Career Development Activities will be developed to foster the development of students into independent scien- tists. Further, through consultation with partners in historically disadvantaged institutions in South Africa and other LMIC partners, a program of customized workshops will be developed to strengthen supervisory and men- toring capacity. An important focus of the planning phase will be the development of a monitoring and evaluation plan. In summary, the proposed work will bring together a productive network of TB researchers, bioinformati- cians, US mentors and LMIC partners to develop a TB-focused bioinformatics training program to benefit infec- tious disease research.