LONDON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Leading scientists advising the World Health Organization said they wanted a "more realistic picture" about the COVID-19 situation from China's top experts at a key meeting on Tuesday as worries grow about the rapid spread of the virus.

We invite applications from three postdoctoral researchers with an interest in developing into professional Research Software Engineers (RSEs). Research Software Engineer (RSE) is an exciting new role for researchers with an interest and aptitude for the computational aspects of research and is of growing importance internationally.

We invite applications from ambitious post doctoral scientists, to undertake research in a Flagship research programme on epidemics in Africa. The fellow will have access to some of the finest longitudinal datasets in Africa and will apply advanced geospatial and molecular epidemiological analytical techniques to identify spatiotemporal hotspots for emerging pathogens, understand the dynamics of transmission networks and directly inform prevention and treatment efforts in Africa.

We invite applications from ambitious post doctoral scientists, to undertake research in a Flagship research programme on epidemics in Africa. The fellow will contribute to further developments in existing modelling techniques that estimate the reproductive potential of mosquito-species and the suitability transmission potential of arboviruses such as dengue and Zika.

We invite applications from ambitious post doctoral scientists, to undertake research in a Flagship research programme on epidemics in Africa. The fellow will develop and apply molecular epidemiology, phylodynamics and phylogeography techniques to describe pathogens of epidemiological concern to Africa.

Welcome to another inspiring edition of the CERI & KRISP Newsletter. This month the global impact of our work is once again in the spotlight. Testament to this are the numerous awards, publications and international recognition that the team continues to receive.

Health experts said the old nomenclature was imprecise, played into racist stereotypes and fueled stigmatization, making it harder to contain the most recent outbreaks.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has praised the work of virologist Sikhulile Moyo and bioinformatics scientist Tulio de Oliveira. The COVID-19 researchers are the 2022 recipients of the German Africa Prize.

Time: 12h00 | Wednesday, 30 November 2022, Venue: STIAS, Stellenbosch Campus or Online, Presenters: Dr Christopher Trisos, directs the Climate Risk Lab for the African Climate and Development Initiative at University of Cape Town.

China's daily COVID-19 cases hit a record high since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the data revealed by the National Health Bureau. The country reported as many as 31,444 domestic cases on Wednesday despite its targeted approach. However, the numbers are relatively small when compared with China's t population of 1.4 billion, AFP reported.

Academic research findings can promote entrepreneurship, innovation, create new jobs, products and services that address all Africa’s citizens needs

The Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI) is seeking to appoint a post-doctoral fellow with great potential and ambition to become a leading scientist. The position will work with some of the best genomics and bioinformatics scientists in the world. We aim to identify both pathogen and human genomic variation that are associated with the transmission and virulence of pathogens and the development of diseases.

The GRM provides a platform for any stakeholder who has a grievance or problem that has arisen from their involvement with the project the right and the opportunity to lodge their grievance and discuss it with an eye to resolving it, if possible, to mutual satisfaction. The purpose of standard operating procedure (SOP) is to outline the procedures to be followed in addressing any grievance.

Welcome to another edition of the CERI & KRISP Newsletter. This month we reflect on how much recognition we have received nationally and internationally and reflect about what can be done better and how best to prepare for future threats to global health.

Virologist Dr. Sikhulile Moyo in Botswana and South Africa-based bioinformatics scientist Prof. Tulio de Oliveira have won this year's German Africa prize for their work identifying the COVID-19 variant omicron.

The World Health Summit (WHS 2022) was the first World Health Summit together with WHO. It was attended by over 1000 participants. CERI and KRISP sent a delegation of 5 of our brightest and younger scientists

IRESSEF and UCAD in Senegal organized and hosted a bioinformatics workshop that will included one week of virtual sessions on October 3 - 7, 2022, and one week of in-person sessions in Senegal October 10 - 15, 2022. Dr. Tulio de Oliveira of CERI and Dr. Luiz Alcantara Jr. of FIOCRUZ and their teams assisted in facilitating this training. They are at the forefront of capacity-building efforts in bioinformatics, with experience leading large-scale bioinformatics training programs.

We are delighted to announce that Professor Frank Tanser has joined CERI as Director of Population Health Innovation. Frank is a leading South African scientist whose research aims to evaluate and design intervention strategies to drive back the HIV epidemic and its negative consequences in communities hardest hit by the epidemic.

One highlight of the forum was meeting Barack Obama and Dr. Sonia Vallabh. Both have worked against major adversity to develop health solutions. Dr Vallabh is a scientist working on rapid dementia, a genetic disease that killed her mother, and she is also at risk of developing dementia.

Massive SARS-CoV-2 sequencing project in Africa brings global benefits. Nature coverage of our pan-African manuscript in Science 2022.

Genomic sequencing enables live tracking of the spread of a virus. A Science paper, released on September 15th, 2022, analyzing more than 100,000 genomes, recalls the benefits of local sequencing while studying the spread dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants of interest on the African continent.

The BRICS Network for Genome Surveillance (NGS-BRICS) was established in 2021 and generates and investigates sequence data of viral pathogens of public health importance, such as COVID-19. In the interest of increasing bioinformatics and experimental expertise within BRICS countries. Applications close on 1st of August 2022.

A new scientific survey has found that the majority of Covid-19 variants in Africa were introduced from abroad. East Coast Radio coverage of our pan-African genomics surveillance paper in Science 2022

This month we reflect on how much the world has changed over the last two years. It is still too early to declare the pandemic over, but it is time to begin thinking about what can be done better and how best to prepare for future threats to global health.

Individuals from organizations affiliated with the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition & Rockefeller Pandemic Prevention Institute will participate in long- and short-term training opportunities at CERI/KRISP.

The last 2 years have made us fully aware of the devastating effects that a global pandemic can have. We appear to be past the worst of it, but it’s too early to say that it’s over. It is not too early, however, to begin thinking about what can be done better when the precursor to the next pandemic comes along.

Bioinformatician and Director of CERI and KRISP, Prof Tulio de Oliveira is profiled in The Lancet. Article written by Udani Samarasekera, 6 August 2022.

Nobody saw SARS-CoV-2 coming. In the early days of the pandemic, researchers were scrambling to collect samples from people who had mysteriously developed fevers, coughs, and breathing problems. Pretty soon, they realized that the disease-causing culprit was a new virus humans hadn’t seen before.

Presenter: Professor Francesco Petruccione, Professor of Quantum Computing, Stellenbosch University, Date: 24 Aug 2022, Locations: STIAS, Stellenbosch or virtually

Public health researchers say the term evokes racist stereotypes, reinforces offensive tropes about Africa and abets stigmatization that can prevent people from seeking care.