What We Do

GAPP creates and supports sustainable international infrastructure for microbial discovery, surveillance, diagnostics, and response through capacity building and the pursuit of research questions focusing on the pathogenesis of unexplained febrile illnesses and cross-species transmission of infectious diseases. Our goal is to introduce inexpensive methods for high-throughput sequencing, multiplex PCR, and serology that will enable in-country identification and characterization of known and novel infectious threats.

The CII continually works to expand and adapt technology for identifying viruses using VirCapSeq as well as pathogenic bacteria and antimicrobial resistance elements using BacCapSeq. We are committed to ensuring our members have access to updated, state-of-the-art tools that provide practical solutions. GAPP provides rigorous didactic and laboratory training in molecular biology, serology, and bioinformatics for investigators at each site, both in-person and remote. We also built a secure cloud-based system called the Rapid Identification of Microbes (RIM) for data processing and analysis, sharing sequence data and expertise, and communication within the network.

To date, GAPP has two training curricula: a 2-week remote learning and a 3-week intensive and hands-on course at the CII. The remote lecture series must be completed at a satisfactory level to enroll in the resident laboratory course. At the conclusion of each course, there is a summary, review, and proficiency assessment. Many investigators work with their own institutions samples for sequencing and serology projects and return to their home institutions with data suitable for further analysis and publication. This is possible via the GAPP RIM pipeline, which is a containerized and web-based analysis tool that can be run on a local PC, a local server, or via the cloud using a service such as AWS.

The GAPP team will continue to provide support to these investigators as needed; however, our goal is for each site to have the capacity for independent laboratory and bioinformatic analysis within 2-5 years. We are also investigating lecture options with partner institutions for supporting scientific writing skills and advanced degrees in relevant topics, such as molecular biology.