Virtual workshop on Conducting Microbiome research in Low and middle-income countries second call

Dates: May 24- June 11, 2021

The NIHR Mucosal Pathogens Research Unit (UCL, UK) in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh and Malawi-Liverpool Wellcome Trust Clinical Research programme, is pleased to announce the workshop: Conducting Microbiome research in Low and middle-income countries. This workshop will provide a full overview of all basic knowledge needed to execute a microbiome study in a clinical or surveillance setting, with a focus in LMICs. At the end of the course, participants will be equipped with sufficient knowledge to design and execute a microbiome-related study, as well as understand the laboratory processes and basic data analyses needed to deliver high quality results.

The workshop will focus on:
1. Study design, power calculations and logistical challenges in conducting microbiome studies
2. Storage protocols and laboratory procedures, including the need for appropriate and stringent quality control
3. Processing of sequencing data, including QC, annotation, generation of microbiota profiles and first data analyses, which will include a comprehensive overview of steps to obtain insight into the data by supervised and unsupervised analyses, including understanding of alpha- and beta- diversity, biomarker identification and multivariate modelling.

Target audience
The workshop is targeting strongly interested early career post-doctoral researchers and PhD students based in or working with research institutes affiliated with MPRU who are currently executing or planning to conduct microbiome research in the near future. Interested candidates should apply by sending their CV and a no more than A4 page motivational statement expressing how they will benefit from the workshop to Steven Kuo s [dot] kuo [at] ucl [dot] ac [dot] uk

Deadline for applications is 23rd April 2021.
This course is funded by the NIHR-MPRU with limited spaces available. The course will be run as a remote online course. You will need a stable internet connection since many of the analyses may require you to follow along with instructions from videos provided. Priority will be given to participants from or working with NIHR-MPRU affiliated African institutions, and individuals with current or planned microbiome-related studies.