SFU team joins international collaboration to track and monitor infectious diseases

Researchers from Simon Fraser University are joining an international effort to improve how infectious diseases are tracked and monitored.   

Launched at the end of May, ARTIC-2 is extending a genome sequencing technique that was used by thousands of laboratories globally to spot COVID-19 variants, providing crucial information when mapping out new infectious threats.  

The project will now see the low-cost technique extended to cover a wide range of known pathogens and help facilitate the discovery of new pathogens. This work will enable public health laboratories around the world to respond more quickly and effectively to outbreaks of new and emerging viruses. 

“The importance of genome sequencing really came to the fore during the COVID-19 pandemic, when new variants were constantly spreading and evolving,” says SFU’s Caroline Colijn, professor of mathematics, who is co-leading part of the project.  

“Genome sequencing was with us from the start of the pandemic and it helped to inform public health policies and decisions as new variants were discovered.  

“What this ambitious new project seeks to do is develop the underlying technology to enable laboratories across the world to respond in real time as new threats emerge. This is absolutely crucial in helping to prevent and mitigate future pandemics.”  

Genomic surveillance, the process of monitoring pathogens and analyzing their genetic similarities and differences, is a powerful tool in the fight against infectious diseases.  

By analyzing the genetic makeup of pathogens, like viruses or bacteria, scientists can track the spread of outbreaks and understand their evolution over time. 

Colijn is co-leading the effort to bring together the analytical tools used to interpret and model genomic data.  

Such tools can help to reconstruct outbreaks, estimate how fast a transmission is occurring, understand how a virus is spreading geographically, and build outbreak forecasts or projections.  

This information is vital in helping public health officials predict future outbreaks, develop targeted treatments and implement effective control measures.  

“Our role in this project is to develop new statistical methods and mathematical models to better understand data characterizing diverse and evolving infections,” explains Colijn.  

“It’s really important to get the most out of those data as possible, as it enables us to learn about the evolution of infectious diseases that can be immensely damaging, as we saw with the COVID-19 pandemic.”  

ARTIC-2 is an international collaboration led by the University of Birmingham, in the UK. Alongside the SFU team, the project includes researchers from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana and Kenya.  

A key element of the ARTIC-2 program will be the continued development of low-cost laboratory protocols and equipment that significantly reduce the cost of sequencing.  

Lower costs allow more labs to perform sequencing in places where it is badly needed, such as in low and middle-income countries and the global south. 

• For more information about the project, visit KEMRI Wellcome Trust