Grand Challenges Spotlight Talk (Containing Future Pathogens at Ground Zero: The Urgent Need for Local Responses to Global Threats). Abdoulaye Djimde, President, Pathogens genomic Diversity Network Africa; Calestous Juma Science Leadership Fellow; Mali.
Abdoulaye Djimde reflects on the need for improved genetic epidemiology infrastructure at the country level to better protect the global community, highlighting the power of leveraging local expertise by building lab capacity and training young scientists. To illustrate this point, he draws on a variety of real-world examples, ranging from the success of a village tackling malaria to the partnership between the National Institutes of Health and scientific community in Mali.