"Broadband" bioinformatics skills transfer with the Knowledge Transfer Programme (KTP): educational model for upliftment and sustainable development

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dc.contributor.authorChimusa, Emile Ren_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMbiyavanga, Mamanaen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMasilela, Velaphien_ZA
dc.contributor.authorKumuthini, Juditen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2016-02-10T14:46:32Z
dc.date.available2016-02-10T14:46:32Z
dc.date.issued2015en_ZA
dc.description.abstractA shortage of practical skills and relevant expertise is possibly the primary obstacle to social upliftment and sustainable development in Africa. The "omics" fields, especially genomics, are increasingly dependent on the effective interpretation of large and complex sets of data. Despite abundant natural resources and population sizes comparable with many first-world countries from which talent could be drawn, countries in Africa still lag far behind the rest of the world in terms of specialized skills development. Moreover, there are serious concerns about disparities between countries within the continent. The multidisciplinary nature of the bioinformatics field, coupled with rare and depleting expertise, is a critical problem for the advancement of bioinformatics in Africa. We propose a formalized matchmaking system, which is aimed at reversing this trend, by introducing the Knowledge Transfer Programme (KTP). Instead of individual researchers travelling to other labs to learn, researchers with desirable skills are invited to join African research groups for six weeks to six months. Visiting researchers or trainers will pass on their expertise to multiple people simultaneously in their local environments, thus increasing the efficiency of knowledge transference. In return, visiting researchers have the opportunity to develop professional contacts, gain industry work experience, work with novel datasets, and strengthen and support their ongoing research. The KTP develops a network with a centralized hub through which groups and individuals are put into contact with one another and exchanges are facilitated by connecting both parties with potential funding sources. This is part of the PLOS Computational Biology Education collection.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationChimusa, E. R., Mbiyavanga, M., Masilela, V., & Kumuthini, J. (2015). "Broadband" bioinformatics skills transfer with the Knowledge Transfer Programme (KTP): educational model for upliftment and sustainable development. <i>PLOS Computational Biology</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16951en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationChimusa, Emile R, Mamana Mbiyavanga, Velaphi Masilela, and Judit Kumuthini ""Broadband" bioinformatics skills transfer with the Knowledge Transfer Programme (KTP): educational model for upliftment and sustainable development." <i>PLOS Computational Biology</i> (2015) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16951en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationChimusa, E. R., Mbiyavanga, M., Masilela, V., & Kumuthini, J. (2015). "Broadband" bioinformatics skills transfer with the Knowledge Transfer Programme (KTP): educational model for upliftment and sustainable development. PLoS computational biology, 11(11), e1004512-e1004512. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004512en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Chimusa, Emile R AU - Mbiyavanga, Mamana AU - Masilela, Velaphi AU - Kumuthini, Judit AB - A shortage of practical skills and relevant expertise is possibly the primary obstacle to social upliftment and sustainable development in Africa. The "omics" fields, especially genomics, are increasingly dependent on the effective interpretation of large and complex sets of data. Despite abundant natural resources and population sizes comparable with many first-world countries from which talent could be drawn, countries in Africa still lag far behind the rest of the world in terms of specialized skills development. Moreover, there are serious concerns about disparities between countries within the continent. The multidisciplinary nature of the bioinformatics field, coupled with rare and depleting expertise, is a critical problem for the advancement of bioinformatics in Africa. We propose a formalized matchmaking system, which is aimed at reversing this trend, by introducing the Knowledge Transfer Programme (KTP). Instead of individual researchers travelling to other labs to learn, researchers with desirable skills are invited to join African research groups for six weeks to six months. Visiting researchers or trainers will pass on their expertise to multiple people simultaneously in their local environments, thus increasing the efficiency of knowledge transference. In return, visiting researchers have the opportunity to develop professional contacts, gain industry work experience, work with novel datasets, and strengthen and support their ongoing research. The KTP develops a network with a centralized hub through which groups and individuals are put into contact with one another and exchanges are facilitated by connecting both parties with potential funding sources. This is part of the PLOS Computational Biology Education collection. DA - 2015 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004512 DP - University of Cape Town J1 - PLOS Computational Biology LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2015 T1 - "Broadband" bioinformatics skills transfer with the Knowledge Transfer Programme (KTP): educational model for upliftment and sustainable development TI - "Broadband" bioinformatics skills transfer with the Knowledge Transfer Programme (KTP): educational model for upliftment and sustainable development UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16951 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004512en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/16951
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationChimusa ER, Mbiyavanga M, Masilela V, Kumuthini J. "Broadband" bioinformatics skills transfer with the Knowledge Transfer Programme (KTP): educational model for upliftment and sustainable development. PLOS Computational Biology. 2015; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16951.en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisherPublic Library of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentInstitute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicineen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.en_ZA
dc.rights.holder© 2015 Chimusa et alen_ZA
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0en_ZA
dc.sourcePLOS Computational Biologyen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiolen_ZA
dc.subject.otherBioinformaticsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherAfricansen_ZA
dc.subject.otherGenomicsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherAfricaen_ZA
dc.subject.otherGenomic medicineen_ZA
dc.subject.otherGenome complexityen_ZA
dc.subject.otherScientistsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherPopulation geneticsen_ZA
dc.title"Broadband" bioinformatics skills transfer with the Knowledge Transfer Programme (KTP): educational model for upliftment and sustainable developmenten_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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