The African Society of Human Genetics (AfSHG) was formed in 2003 to ensure that Africa is not left out of the genomic revolution. To meet this objective, the society has provided a forum for scientists to interact and exchange information in the field of genetics and genomics. This has been successfully achieved through earlier meetings held in Accra, Ghana - 2003, Washington DC - 2004, Johannesburg, South Africa -2005, Addis Abba, Ethiopia - 2006, Cairo, Egypt - 2007, and Yaounde, Cameroon - 2009. Scientists and physicians from over 15 African countries, several European countries and the Americas attended these meetings. These meetings have advanced the fundamental goals of the society including education, networking, capacity building, and research development. In addition, this Society through previous meetings has been instrumental in the development of the African Genome Project. We recognize that as the genomic revolution develops it is important that the issue of equity in genetic research and translation into clinical practice needs to be seriously addressed. Previous meetings have dealt with some of these issues, but the 7th AfSHG meeting in March 2011 in Cape Town, South Africa will deal with these issues directly by having sessions that include the following topics: Public Health Genomics, The Microbiome and Health, Human History and Population Genetics, Genomic Medicine, Networking/Resource Building and Developing Collaborations, and Bioethics and Benefit Sharing. Invited speakers include Francis Collins (Director, NIH), Claire Fraser-Liggett (University of Maryland), James Lupski (Baylor College of Medicine), Abdallah Daar (University of Toronto), Dominic Kwiatkowski (Oxford University), Arnold L. Christianson (University of Witwatersrand) and Edison Liu, (Director, HUGO), several of whom have attended previous meetings of the AfSHG. Finally, in an attempt to better integrate the development of genetic research in Africa, the AfSHG meeting in Cape Town will be held jointly with Southern African Society for Human Genetics. This is a strategy that has been used successfully in previous meetings to engage existing African scientific organizations in genomics.
The African Society of Human Genetics is a relatively new society formed with the mission of disseminating information about human genetics research in Africa, establishing a mentorship network, providing advocacy for human genetic research in Africa, and encouraging collaborative research. These missions have been promoted to a large extent through meetings. The current proposal will support the 7th meeting of the Society in Cape Town, South Africa, and is expected to be critical in developing ideas of how to translate genetic knowledge into clinical medicine on Africa.
