The Philippine Genome Center of the UP System is holding a free seminar titled “Using viral genomic sequencing to track virus transmission during the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa” by Professor Ian Gordon Goodfellow of the Division of Virology, Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge.
Professor Goodfellow, a highly-esteemed virologist will be in the country to explore the possibility of establishing collaborations in the area of infectious diseases. His recent work during the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa earned him a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellowship, a 5-year collaborative award to develop a field deployable sample to sequence workflow for viral epidemics.
As part of this project, Prof. Goodfellow and his team seek to develop deployable portable sequencing workflows based on miniaturized Nanopore sequencing technology. This would include all the equipment and reagents required to go from sample to sequence, through the preliminary analysis to reporting, in resource limited environments. Such a platform would provide invaluable information during a rapidly evolving viral epidemic. Using the Oxford nanopore MinIon device as small as a USB, RNA or DNA sequences can be delivered real-time, in-field and in a few hours or less to obtain pertinent in-field and point-of-care clinical applications.
With the aim of transferring the technology and expertise to local scientists, the Philippine Genome Center invites students, researchers and faculty members in molecular biology, public health and medical sciences, and other related field to attend the seminar on September 20 at 10am at the Lecture Hall 105, NIMBB Building, National Science Complex, UP Diliman.
