Abstract
.The 11th Congress of the African Society of Human Genetics (AfSHG) was held from September 16, 2018 to September 21, 2018, in conjunction with the 12th Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) Consortium meeting in Kigali, Rwanda. The event was organized by the AfSHG in partnership with the Rwanda Society of Human Genetics and the University of Rwanda. A 2-day workshop on the application of next-generation sequencing technologies for analyzing monogenic disease in African populations was organized as part of the conference (September 22, 2018−September 23, 2018, Kigali, Rwanda). The theme of the conference was “Building skills and resources for genomics, epigenetics and bioinformatics research for Africa.” The conference served as a platform to bring together members from country-specific Societies of Human Genetics, including Rwanda, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Mali, Senegal, and South Africa, and included 435 delegates from 38 countries, including 29 African countries that attended the conference. A major topic of discussion was how to bridge the gap between the emerging knowledge on genomics and Omics in African populations. The importance of understanding the role of genetic variation in disease causation and susceptibility among Africans was a constant theme during the meeting, as was the need to develop research infrastructure and resources to enhance healthcare systems, so that they are not left behind in the genomic revolution. It was concluded that there is a need to inspire more African scientists to train and work as investigators, clinicians, and genetic counselors in the field of human genetics in Africa. Local investments, and South–South and South–North collaboration were identified as the key drivers for the successful implementation of research and development on the continent.
Highlights
The African Society of Human Genetics (AfSHG) in partnership with the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) Consortium, the Rwanda Society of Human Genetics, and University of Rwanda in Kigali organized the 11th AfSHG congress jointly with the 12th H3Africa meeting
The plenary discussion on future perspectives for AfSHG and the H3Africa Consortium was the last session of the conference (Figure 3)
African governments should invest in genetics and genomics research to advance in medical research on the continent, and this may lead to the development of African research agenda that spotlight genetics and genomics in decision-making with in the healthcare delivery
Summary
The African Society of Human Genetics (AfSHG) in partnership with the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) Consortium, the Rwanda Society of Human Genetics, and University of Rwanda in Kigali organized the 11th AfSHG congress jointly with the 12th H3Africa meeting. A session was dedicated to showcasing the H3Arica projects and included talks on monogenic neurological traits, complex traits, infectious diseases, and ethical issues and concluded with a presentation on the African Academy of Science (AAS) Open Research Platform. Michele Ramsay presented the work of an H3Africa Collaborative Center referred to as AWI-Gen (Africa WitsINDEPTH partnership for genomic studies) where they recruited more than 12,000 adult participants in a crosssectional population study to identify genetic and environmental contributions to obesity and cardiometabolic diseases.
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