ViralBioinfLAC2022

Viral Genomics and Bioinformatics Latin America and the Caribbean LAC 2022

Base for the Viral Genomics and Bioinformatics Repository

Course overview

We are pleased to announce the next Viral Genomics and Bioinformatics course in collaboration with COVID-19 Genomics (COG) Train (COG-Train).

Viruses are a huge public health burden all around the world. Latin America is bearing the burden of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in addition to endemic viruses such as zika, chikungunya and dengue. Apart from health issues, emerging viral illnesses and epidemics have a global economic impact. According to the World Bank, the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic caused a more than $10 trillion deficit in the global economy in 2020-2021 alone. This demonstrates the impact of viral illnesses not only on human and animal health, but also on social and economic growth of the world.

Technological advances in science and research are making it possible to rapid detection, surveillance and management of viral diseases. In recent years, next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have played an important role in the identification and classification of viruses, in the detection of drug resistance mutations and in the treatment and surveillance of viral diseases. Early identification of a virus and quick analysis of its genome will aid towards better treatment and help in controlling the disease spread. Along with the advances in the sequencing technologies, it is necessary to develop data management methods, computational analysis tools and human expertise to cope with the sequence deluge. The number of researchers able to interpret viral high throughput sequence data is currently limited.

The Viral Genomics and Bioinformatics course will teach participants how to analyse viral genome sequences and interpret genomic data obtained by high-throughput sequencing. The use of the command line to analyse viral NGS data, quality control of sequences, reference mapping and de novo assembly of viral genomes, pathogen identification from metagenomics data, and creating phylogenetic trees will be covered in the course. Participants, along with gaining bioinformatics knowledge, will have an opportunity to establish links and networks and develop future collaborative projects.

Course website

Instructors

Carolina Torres, Universidad de Buenos Aires - CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Josefina Campos, Centro Nacional de Genómica y Bioinfomática, ANLIS Malbrán, Argentina
Sreenu Vattipally, MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, UK
Marta Giovanetti, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil
Pablo Ivan P Ramos, FIOCRUZ - Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil
Richard Orton, MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, UK
Srikeerthana Kuchi, MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, UK
Maria Dolores Blanco Fernandez, Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
Andrés Carlos Alberto Culasso , CONICET - Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
Laise de Moraes, FIOCRUZ-BA, Brazil
Tomás Poklépovich, Centro Nacional de Genómica y Bioinfomática, ANLIS Malbrán, Argentina
María Sol Haim, Centro Nacional de Genómica y Bioinfomática, ANLIS Malbrán, Argentina