SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Sequencing
Description:
The threat posed by new SARS-CoV-2 variants may set back the progress that has been achieved in global vaccination campaigns. Given the increasing presence of these new strains and the urgent need to monitor in real time the presence of new ones, AHF is offering this grant in order to ramp up research and provide a unique opportunity to generate high quality evidence on the new SARS-CoV-2 variants that are currently expanding throughout the world.
Through this grant AHF seeks to expand the current genomic sequencing capacities in national/regional territories, fostering global evidence on the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and also to decrease the time to deposition of the sequenced samples in the Global Initiative on Sharing all Influenza Data (GISAID) platform, contributing to timely inform public health policies that aim to halt the pandemic. This grant also seeks to promote advocacy to emphasize the importance of genomic sequencing as a tool to fight this and future pandemics.
2021
During 2021, we sponsored 15 projects in 14 different countries
| Country | Institution | Name of the project |
| Argentina | National Institute of Agricultural Technology | Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 variants in Santa Fe province |
| Brazil | Fiocruz Amazonia | AHF-FIOCRUZ Research Mission – Identification of SARS-CoV-2 Genomic in Riverside Communities Along the Amazon River Basin |
| India | CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology | MicroLabs based SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Surveillance for Vaccine Breakthrough in India |
| Jamaica | The University of the West Indies, Mona | Implementation of COVID-19 sequencing in Jamaica |
| Kenya | Kenya Medical Research Institute | Sequencing of waste water SARS-CoV-2 variants as affordable alternative to monitor the genetics of COVID-19 outbreaks in a Kenyan setting |
| Mexico | Institute of Biotechnology, National Autonomous University of Mexico | Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 variants in Mexico |
| Mexico | National Institute of Genomic Medicine | Long-read, nanopore based whole-genome sequence analysis of 500 SARS-CoV 2 samples from patients in Mexico City |
| Nigeria | Nigerian Institute of Medical Research | Genomic Epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 among International Travelers in Nigeria (GESIT Study) |
| Pakistan | Common Management Unit for HIV, TB and Malaria Grants, Islamabad | Genomic surveillance of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants in Islamabad Capital Territory |
| Peru | National Institute of Health | Detection of variants of SARS-CoV-2 virus related to early outbreaks response in Peru |
| Thailand | Mahidol University | Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 variants spreading in Thailand: A prospective cohort study |
| Trinidad & Tobago | The University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago | Beyond COVID-19 IMPACT: Establishing a sustained capacity for genomic surveillance in Trinidad & Tobago |
| Uganda | Joint Clinical Research Centre | Could African HIV patients become a reservoir of COVID-19 mutants? |
| Ukraine | The L.V. Gromashevskij Institute of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine | SARS-CoV-2 genomic epidemiology in Kyiv, Ukraine |
| USA | University of Miami | Identification of SARS-CoV-2 genomic epidemiology in Miami |
2022
During 2022, we sponsored 3 projects in 3 different countries
| Country | Institution | Name of the project |
| Mexico | Institute of Biotechnology, National Autonomous University of Mexico | Analysis of potential recombinant SARS-CoV-2 variants circulating in Mexico |
| Pakistan | National Institute of Health | Genomic characterization of SARS-CoV-2 and respiratory viruses infecting the population of Pakistan |
| Trinidad & Tobago | The University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago | SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequencing continuity for variant surveillance in Trinidad & Tobago |
Project Manager
Fernando Ariel García Terrón