Context:
Recently, the International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN) announced 10 projects that will receive almost US$ 2 million in grants to improve capacities in pathogen genomic surveillance.
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IPSN announced this first round of grantmaking under its catalytic grant fund.
- This fund was established by the IPSN to support partners from low- and middle-income countries to build their capacities in pathogen genomic analysis.
The fund is hosted by the United Nations Foundation and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation and the Wellcome Trust.
The grantees were announced at the IPSN Global Partners Forum held in Bangkok, Thailand, from 21–22 November 2024.
The grantees include India’s Ashoka University, the International Foundation for Research and Education, and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research’s (CSIR) project titled Quantitative Mapping of Environmental to Clinical AMR via DNA Barcoding.
- Majority of the fund recipients were from Africa i.e. Rwanda, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon and Angola.
A second round of catalytic grant funds will be made available to IPSN members in 2025.
The International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN)
It was launched by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2023 to prevent and detect infectious disease threats before they become epidemics or pandemics.
It is a global network of pathogen genomic actors, brought together by the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, to accelerate progress in pathogen genomics.
The IPSN is made up of three operational bodies that gather various public health stakeholders to collaborate on pathogen genomics and disease surveillance challenges:
- Communities of Practice (COPs)
- Country Scale-Up Accelerator (CSUA)
- Funders Forum
Functions of IPSN
- It will increase harmonization and innovation in pathogen genomics.
- It will also increase political attention and financing efficiency.
- It will scale up the accelerator to align efforts and enable South-South exchange.
- It also grants funding to enable equity and power IPSN projects.