Ethiopian Malaria Genomic Epidemiology Network (EMAGEN)

Fitsum Girma Tadesse of the Armauer Hansen Research Institute in Ethiopia will establish the Ethiopian Malaria Genomic Epidemiology Network (EMAGEN) by bringing together key public health, biomedical, and biotechnology institutions in Ethiopia to build malaria molecular surveillance capacity and renew elimination efforts. Eliminating malaria requires an urgent shift to more quantitative methods that can more accurately and rapidly track disease transmission and drug resistance, and better target interventions. They will develop a framework for building capacity and integrating it into the national malaria control and elimination strategy, produce next generation sequencing and bioinformatics protocols that will be used to monitor anti-malaria drug resistance, and train personnel in genomics and bioinformatics. They will also develop a simple, interactive web interface to effectively communicate results to diverse stakeholders.