The Institute rolled out a capacity-building workshop dubbed “Mosquito Microbiome Consortium (MMC) Summer School 2024” which was held from July 23 to August 3, 2024. The purpose of the school was to address mosquito-borne diseases, a major public health challenge, and curtail their continuous widespread due to climate change in many populations in the world.
This was a collaboration with the Mosquito Microbiome Consortium, Tropical Infectious Diseases Research Center, Universite d’Abomey-Calavi, Center for Global Health Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, and Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1, with funding support from the French National Centre for Scientific Research
The two-week workshop, was on the theme “RNA interference and microbiome data analysis in medical entomology”.
The training participants were taken through theoretical and practical hands-on methods for RNA interference (RNAi) and bioinformatics for analyzing microbiome data with expert facilitators from Ghana and France in two weeks. The workshop was hosted by PI of the MoziBiome Lab, Dr. Jewelna E.B. Akorli (Senior Research Fellows, NMIMR), who has keen interest in building capacity in novel bacteria-mediated methods for vector and mosquito-borne disease control.
Addressing the participants at the opening of the workshop, Prof. Anita Ghansah, an Associate Professor at the Department of Parasitology, lauded the efforts of the collaborating institutions for putting such a capacity-building workshop together.
“This initiative is very laudable, and I am happy that the consortium has been able to bring this to Ghana and Africa in order to open up for individuals to participate”, Prof. Ghansah said.
Prof. Ghansah urged the participants to take full advantage of the training course and give the best of their abilities. “Know that this area of research is essential as it applies to many areas and not only mosquito research. Avail yourselves and be open-minded to absorb all the information and think about how you can apply it in different areas of your research”.
Adding his voice, Prof. Samuel Dadzie, a Professor of Entomology and lead of the Vector Research Group at the Department of Parasitology, reiterated that “This workshop is timely and well put together by the organizers to enable the participants to understand some of the innovative research that is receiving a lot of interest globally, especially in mosquito research.”.
According to Prof. Dadzie, the collaborations and knowledge-sharing that will emerge from the workshop will drive innovation and progress in the field.
The workshop featured presentations from various researchers, including Dr. Kwadwo Frempong, a Research Fellow at the Department of Parasitology, who highlighted the importance of biosafety. Dr. Guillaume Minard, Associate Professor, University of Lyon, also shared insights on the global RNAi principle and framework.
Participants praised the workshop for its engaging format, expert instruction, and opportunities for networking and collaboration. “This workshop will be a game-changer for my research. I am very optimistic to gain practical skills and insights that will help me tackle complex problems in insect vector biology at the end of the training course”, said Yvonne Adjakie Amfo-Tetteh, Research Assistant, NMIMR.
