Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support expansion of pathogen genome databases

The Global Health Program of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has announced a multi-million dollar grant to PGFI faculty David S. Roos (E. Otis Kendall Professor of Biology) and Christian J. Stoeckert (Research Professor of Genetics), in collaboration with Drs. Jessica Kissinger (University of Georgia) and Peter Myler (Seattle Biomedical Research Institute). This two year award supports the application of bioinformatics resources to kinetoplastid parasites, including the organisms responsible for leishmaniasis (kala-azar), African sleeping sickness, and Chagas disease. Over the past decade, Drs. Roos (PI), Stoeckert, Kissinger and colleagues have been responsible for developing the Eukaryotic Pathogen Genome Database, one of eight national Bioinformatics Resource Centers supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. EuPathDB currently provides bioinformatics support for investigators working on biodefense and emerging pathogens, including Toxoplasma parasites that are also important in congenital disease and immunosuppressed patients, and the Plasmodium parasites responsible for malaria. The Gates award leverages infrastructure developed in the context of the EuPathDB project, and promotes partnership with the GeneDB effort at the Sanger Institute (UK) for the curation of parasite genomes funded by the Wellcome Trust, bringing the tools of computational genomics to bear against pathogens of global importance.