In 2018, a VLIR-UOS grant was awarded to Christopher Delgado Ratto (GHI, UAntwerp) and the TORCH consortium for capacity building of bioinformatics and sequencing in Peru, titled: ‘Improved infectious diseases control in Peru through sustainable capacity building for bioinformatics and genome sequencing’. The TORCH consortium is very excited to translate the courses designed for the Ethiopian Vlir to this progressive project in Peru.
In this project, we will develop sustainable capacity in bioinformatics and sequencing through the development of an academic network between 3 universities in Peru (Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Universidad Nacional de San Agustin de Arequipa and Universidad Nacional de la Amazonía Peruana) and 2 institutions in Belgium. Topics of local public health importance were selected: malaria, tuberculosis and antibiotic resistance. For these diseases, next generation sequencing can significantly improve diagnostics, surveillance and control, thus contributing to better health of the population of Peru.
Similar to the Ethiopian VLIR training, 3 courses will be held over the course of three years in Peru. Year one will focus on malaria, year two on tuberculosis and year three will focus on antimicrobial resistance. More news will follow.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, no training sessions on whole genome sequencing for tuberculosis have been organized so far.