NEW YORK – The International Pathogen Surveillance Network announced Tuesday that it has awarded a total of $2 million under its catalytic grant fund to 10 projects aimed at improving global pathogen genomic surveillance capacities.
Supported by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Foundation, with additional support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Wellcome, the IPSN fund aims to support low- and middle-income countries in building pathogen genomic analysis programs.
The first round of funding goes to the National Institute for Health Research in Angola, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, the National Public Health Laboratory of Cameroon, the Evangelical University of Africa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research at the University of Ghana, Ashoka University’s International Foundation for Research and Education in India, the Pasteur Institute of Laos, American University of Beirut in Lebanon, the Rwanda Biomedical Center, and the Medical Research Institute Colombo of Sri Lanka.
"The IPSN catalytic grant fund has incredible potential to expand pathogen genomic surveillance for all, which we are already seeing through the first round of grantmaking," said Sara Hersey, director of collaborative intelligence at the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, said in a statement.
The recipients will accelerate pathogen genomic surveillance in LMICs and explore new applications for genomic surveillance, such as wastewater surveillance, said Manisha Bhinge, VP of the Health Initiative at the Rockefeller Foundation.
"Pandemics and epidemics continue to be a global threat, further amplified by climate change," Bhinge said. "There is urgent need for equitable access to these tools and capabilities to protect lives in vulnerable communities."
A second round of catalytic grant funds will be made available to IPSN members in 2025.