Putting genomic surveillance at the heart of viral epidemic response. (360G-Wellcome-206298_B_17_Z)

This proposal is to develop an end-to-end system for processing samples from viral outbreaks to generate real-time epidemiological information that is interpretable and actionable by public health bodies. Fast evolving RNA viruses (such as Ebola, MERS, SARS, influenza etc) continually accumulate changes in their genomes that can be used to reconstruct the epidemiological processes that drive the epidemic. Based around a recently developed, single- molecule portable sequencing instrument, the MinION, we will create a 'lab-in- a-suitcase' that will be deployed to remote and resource-limited locations. These will be used to sequence viral genomes from infected patients which will then be uploaded to a central database for rapid analysis. We will develop methods for a wide-range of emerging viral diseases. Novel molecular biology methods will allow us to sequence individual viruses within a patient. Bioinformatics tools will be developed simple enough for non-bioinformaticians to use, without reliance on Internet connectivity. We will develop software to integrate these data and associated epidemiological knowledge to reveal the processes of transmission, virus evolution and epidemiological linkage. Finally we will develop a web-based visualization platform where the outputs of the statistical analyses can be interrogated for epidemiological insights within days of samples being taken from patients.