Meet the ASBCB COSIs
Population Genomics in Africa (AfriPopGen)
The AfriPopGen COSI is a forum for exchange and collaboration among students, postdocs, and senior researchers with a special interest in population genomics and variant interpretation relevant to African populations.
The COSI maintains a Twitter account (@AfriPopGen) as well as a google group and slack channel under the ASBCB for communication.
To join the AfriPopGen COSI, please register here.
Pathogen (Afripathogen)
The Pathogen Genomics Community of Special Interest (Afripathogen COSI) focuses on the bioinformatics of human and non-human pathogens, ideally with a genome <1Gb. We aim to promote best practices, use of various bioinformatics tools and web interfaces, workflows and pipelines. We also provide an ideal space to discuss challenges faced in our different settings. We hold regular online meetings which consist of presentations and break-out sessions to enhance networking.
Are you an African researcher working on pathogen genomics?
Join us today and meet like-minded fellows!
Agricultural Bioinformatics (AfriAgricultural)
As we try to feed an ever-increasing global population, the world is facing multiple challenges, from climate change to the threat of pandemics and zoonoses. Today more than ever, agricultural biosciences are needed to understand the genomics and the phenomics of crops, livestock and their pathogens. This COSI is meant to provide a scientific forum for all African scientists interested in genomics and bioinformatics for all the species of agricultural relevance.
It's a fascinating world, spanning a large diversity of organisms and their genomes, from e.g the 190 kbp of the African swine fever virus genome, to the astonishing 17Gbp (several times the size of the human genome!) of the triploid wheat genome.
If you are interested in working in complex bioinformatics issues with a direct impact on innumerable livelihoods on the continent, please join us in ASBCB's Agricultural Bioinformatics COSI!
Metaomics
The MetaOmics COSI is a group of like minded individuals with an interest in multi-omics approaches in agriculture, health and diseases, and environmental research. The focus in this group is on both the laboratory and bioinformatic techniques and developments within the meta-omics discipline and we welcome members with diverse backgrounds and special interest in metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, metaproteomics and metabolomics.
Structural Biology (StructBio)
With the increasing number and diversity of macromolecules in the Protein Data Bank (PDB), it is becoming more and more possible to use such data for making rapid biological inferences. The time needed to produce and study previously unseen SARS-CoV-2 proteins is an encouraging example of what is achievable from the collaboration between wet lab researchers and bioinformaticians around the world to yield actionable outcomes from molecular biological data. In the same spirit, the Afristructuralbio CoSI is a group of African researchers with diverse backgrounds and interests intersecting the fields of structural biology and structural bioinformatics, with the aim of sharing and discussing our research. We hope that by such an initiative to spur new research ideas and outputs in this exciting field.
Systems Administration (SySAdmin)