Written by:
Vice President, and Head of AstraZeneca's Centre for Genomics Research (CGR), Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca
Director, Centre for Genomics Research, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca
Medical Director, African Cluster, AstraZeneca
Genomic research is the key to unlocking a better understanding of clinical disease progression, leading to improved patient outcomes, and enhanced personalised care across diverse populations. The Discover Me South Africa study is an innovative research initiative in collaboration with the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health, Omnigen Biodata, and numerous industry partners, to launch a 100,000-person project in South Africa. Using genetic data and health records, this programme aims to further diversify genetic resources and support discovery science in the region.
Discover Me South Africa: enabling and supporting diversity in discovery science
We are determined to advance our understanding of disease biology to uncover novel drivers for the diseases we aim to address, hope to prevent, and in the future, even cure. Through our company-wide Genomics Initiative, we aim to analyse two million genomes by 2026 to uncover new targets, disease insights and refine our global precision medicine strategies. By combining these rich genomic datasets with existing insights, and applying cutting-edge AI and machine learning we can better contextualise scientific data and the relationships between them. But, to improve the robustness and global relevance of our discoveries it is important that our genomic datasets are also representative of our globally diverse patient populations.
Through our Genomics Initiative, led by our Centre for Genomics Research, we have been building global partnerships to ensure improved representation across the globe. As part of this commitment, we are active members of a consortium that has recently launched the Discover Me South Africa study—recruiting 100,000 people to integrate health and genetic data in Durban, South Africa.
The Discover Me South Africa initiative has been launched in partnership with the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health, as well as other leading industry partners Omnigen Biodata Ltd, Regeneron Genetics Center, Roche, including Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, GSK, Pfizer and Alnylam.
The study aims to enrol up to 100,000 individuals from Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital, and integrate their electronic health record and genetic data. All participants will receive access to their health information.
Over two years, this collaboration aims to expand the scale of genomic data and analysis to provide diverse, large-scale, real-world data that will help us better understand disease-risk prediction and inform drug discovery, to ultimately create a roadmap to help guide personalised care in South Africa and across the region.
