African Collaborative Center for Microbiome and Genomics Research (ACCME)

描述(申请人提供)：非洲微生物组和基因组研究合作中心(ACCME)是一个多国家、多机构合作研究，涉及马里兰大学人类病毒学和基因组科学研究所、巴尔的摩马里兰大学医学院流行病学和公共卫生系、尼日利亚阿布贾大学教学医院和马里马拉迪国家d‘appui a la lutte中心。该中心的目标是合作并实施高影响力的研究计划，以确定人类微生物组的特征及其在健康和疾病中的作用。具体地说，ACCME联系并利用合作机构现有的资助研究和计划活动，研究阴道微生物群、宿主遗传因素和人乳头瘤病毒(HPV)分子变异之间的相互作用，以确定病毒在宫颈癌病因路径上的持久性的相关性，宫颈癌是非洲大陆可预防的死亡的主要原因。最近，研究小组利用细菌培养独立的、采用16S核糖体RNA(RRNA)基因技术的“克隆和测序方法”，记录了阴道微生物组的复杂性，并将一致的微生物组分类为“群落状态类型”，这为理解阴道微生物组在宫颈癌发病机制中所起的作用打开了新的窗口。除了对阴道微生物组、HPV持久性和宫颈癌的知识做出贡献外，ACCME还通过培训博士后学生成为新一代非洲科学领袖来发展能力，同时使数百名非洲科学家能够进行微生物组和基因组学研究。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The African Collaborative Center for Microbiome and Genomics Research (ACCME) is a multi-country, multi-institutional collaborative research involving the Institutes of Human Virology and Genome Sciences at the University of Maryland; Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, School of Medicine University of Maryland, Baltimore; University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria and the Centre National d'Appui a la lutte centre la Maladie (CNAM) Mali. The objectives of the Center are to collaborate and implement high impact research programs characterizing the human microbiome and its role in health and disease. Specifically, ACCME links and leverages existing funded research and program activities at the collaborating institutions to study the interaction between vaginal microbiome, host genetic factors and molecular variants of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) to determine correlates of viral persistence in the causal pathway of cervical cancer, a major cause of preventable mortality on the African continent. Recent studies by the investigative team, employing bacterial culture-independent, "clone and sequence approach" employing 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene technologies have documented the complexity of vaginal microbiome and classified consistent microbial groupings termed "community state types" that open a new window to understanding the role that the vaginal microbiome plays in cervical cancer pathogenesis. In addition to contributing to knowledge about vaginal microbiome, HPV persistence and cervical carcinogenesis, ACCME also develops capacity by training postdoctoral students to become the new generation of African scientific leaders while empowering hundreds of African scientists to conduct research in microbiome and genomics.