In 2017, the TORCH consortium was awarded a VLIR-UOS Joint grant for the project titled: 'Improved infectious diseases research and surveillance in Ethiopia through capacity building in bioinformatics and sequencing'. In collaboration with Prof. Gemeda Abebe from Jimma University and the Institute of Tropical Medicine (Antwerp), the TORCH consortium designed a three-week crash course to expose 5 Ethiopian trainees to whole genome sequencing, bioinformatics and public health.
2 courses are given:
- June 2018: focus on tuberculosis for six trainees
- July 2019: focus on tuberculosis for nine trainees
During the course, the trainees are requested to develop their own research project that encompasses the concepts and techniques taught during the trainings. After the course, the trainees are actively being encouraged to continue developing their projects and to obtain ethical approval through long-term mentoring by members of the TORCH consortium. When ethical approval is obtained, the TORCH consortium provides the resources needed to start a pilot study.
