Employing institution: Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases (CRID)
Host institution: University of Glasgow
Project title:
Building Metagenomics, Bioinformatics, and Leadership Capacity for Identifying Viral Etiology of Acute Fever Infection in Cameroon
Dr Fredy is an early career scientist at CRID Cameroon working on virology with focus on Etiology of Acute Fever Infection. He obtained his PhD The University of Yaoundé. He studied pharmacology and epidemiology of dengue and chikungunya in Cameroon and attained his Postdoc at the University of Free State, where he developed assays for arbovirus detection.
AREF Fellowship research project
Acute Febrile Illness (AFI) cases in Cameroon were mostly attributed to malaria and typhoid often without diagnose. In the last decade, there have been a decrease in malaria cases because of public health control, leading to increased recognition of non-malarial/typhoid AFI. Our understanding of non-malarial/typhoid AFI is limited due to lack of diagnostic laboratories required to identify responsible viruses to manage and prevent new emerging infections.
Dr Fredy will use the placement to perform metagenomics, bioinformatics and statistical analysis to identify viruses causing AFI by extracting total RNA in malaria/typhus negative samples. While acquiring skills that have an impact in understanding, diagnosing, and managing AFI, thereby contributing to communities well-being in Cameroon and beyond as it will help to develop an early warning system for the surveillance of AFI. He will also identify scale projects within my home institution where the new skills and technologies can be applied. His home institution will assist to organize training and facilitate collaboration to submit new application for big funding that will help to establish myself as a group leader.
Quote
“The Centre for Virus Research will help in acquiring metagenomics, bioinformatics and leaderships skills that will help in increasing expert in our institution.”
Dr Fredy expects to start his fellowship in October 2024