African Digital One Health Network (ADOHNet)
A data science network for infection biology and One Health – led by BNITM
Our Aim:
The African One Health Data Network (AOHDNet) strengthens data analysis capacity across the full breadth of infection biology and One Health research in sub-Saharan Africa. We combine shared compute infrastructure at African partner sites, structured training, and a future postdoctoral exchange that brings African scientists to BNITM research groups for in-depth analytical collaborations.
Our vision:
A connected scientific community in Africa, driving innovation in tropical medicine and global health.
Our Scientific Scope:
Our network reflects the interdisciplinary breadth of BNITM’s research and the data-driven future of global health. Key focus areas include:
• Pathogen and host biology: pathogen genomics, single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, host-parasite interaction, structural and molecular parasitology, drug-target and vaccine discovery.
• Vector biology and arbovirology: vector-pathogen interactions, arbovirus metagenomics and evolution, entomology and vector control.
• Epidemiology and surveillance: disease surveillance, outbreak analytics, infections and climate dynamics, applied epidemiology and biostatistics, One Health disease control.
• Clinical and translational research: clinical trials, diagnostic developments, drug implementation, zoonoses, neglected diseases.
• Implementation and health systems: implementation research, health economics, health communication, medical anthropology.
What we build:
• Regional compute hubs in West Africa (Accra and Kumasi, initially). Identical hardware and software environment at every hub, centrally administered from BNITM.
• Central GPU and storage capacity at BNITM for AI workloads: foundation models, large-scale single-cell analysis, epidemiological modelling at scale, accessible to all network members.
• Postdoctoral exchange programme: a structured two-year fellowship for African postdocs (preparation at home, intensive analysis year at BNITM embedded in a research group, mentored fellowship-writing, return phase for write-up and knowledge transfer) is planned. Open across the full scientific scope above, including epidemiology and biostatistics.
• Annual two-week Summer School: data science training across the scope of the network: Linux, R, Python, NGS and RNA-seq analysis and single-cell. Free for African members, with certification and a train-the-trainer pathway.
• Grant-writing and collaboration support: feedback on funding applications, collaborative time on the central HPC, joint projects with BNITM groups.
Governance:
Hardware ownership remains with BNITM under a Hosting Agreement with each partner institution. Each hub has a named local scientific lead. Central administration and software maintenance are provided by BNITM. Network direction is set jointly with a Scientific Advisory Board including African and international members.
