4-day training on NGS for MTBC organized by TB-CAPT in collaboration with PanACEA and Seq&Treat

On March 21-24, the TB-CAPT consortium hosted a free-of-charge training in collaboration with the PanACEA and Seq&Treat projects, titled ‘Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) next-generation sequencing (NGS) made easy: data analysis step-by-step.’

This online capacity development initiative aimed at improving participants’ knowledge about NGS and its applications in the field of tuberculosis (TB). A combination of pre-recorded webinars and interactive hands-on sessions ensured that the training was easy to follow for both early-career and more senior researchers, regardless of their previous experience of using NGS.

While the event was open to anyone interested, the program was tailored to the needs and interests of TB laboratory staff, technical staff at national TB programs, and clinicians in the TB-CAPT, PanACEA and Seq&Treat consortia. In total, 44 people participated in the event, including 15 members of the TB-CAPT consortium

TB-CAPT Capacity Building Lead, Prof Klaus Reither of the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (SwissTPH) underlines the growing need for bioinformatics skills in the TB-CAPT consortium:

“The NGS workshop launched by TB-CAPT and its partners is a direct response to the growing need for knowledge and skills in sequencing and bioinformatics in sub-Saharan Africa. For the TB-CAPT consortium, capacity building in this area will help combine expertise in clinical TB diagnostics and pathogen genomics to enable, for example, direct whole genome sequencing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from clinical samples or resistance surveillance in the future.”

The training was hosted on Galaxy, an open, web-based platform for accessible, reproducible, and transparent computational biological research. All recorded webinars and hands-on training sessions are now publicly available on the platform.

Dr Daniela Brites of SwissTPH led the first training session focused on bioinformatics, allowing participants to practice mapping and variant calling of sequencing reads:

“We had trainees from four different continents actively and enthusiastically participating in the different activities of the training. The discussions between the participants and experts were very lively and interesting. I think we learned from each other.”

One of the TB-CAPT participants, Dr Chad Centner of the University of Cape Town, said afterwards:  

“This well-organised and stimulating course provided me with all the tools and know-how I need to analyse and understand my own tuberculosis genomic data.”

The organizing team was delighted about the large interest in the event and the participants’ positive feedback. They are currently exploring the possibility of arranging more trainings in the future.