A practical guide for SARS-CoV-2 whole-genome sequencing

19 September 2022–31 May 2024

Online | FutureLearn

A practical guide for SARS-CoV-2 whole-genome sequencing

Overview

The course will close for enrolments shortly. Please join the course by 31 May 2024.

Duration: 3 weeks, 5 hours per week

Free Certificate of Achievement available on satisfactory completion

Start Date: The course is run ‘live’ for 3 weeks from the start date above (i.e. until 19 September). Once this period is over, you will be able to join and complete the course, but there will be no live monitoring of the forums.

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for diagnostic and healthcare professionals, as well as anyone involved in the testing and analysis of disease samples.

It will also be advantageous to researchers specialising in the fields of pandemics, diseases, and diagnostics.

Programme

Course start date
19 September 2022

What will you cover?

  • Fundamentals of viral sequencing
    –  Sequencing approches for SARS-CoV-2
    –  Ensuring sample and data quality
  • Library preparation and sequencing
    –  Protocols for SARS-CoV-2 whole-genome sequencing
    –  Fundamentals of library preparation and sequencing
    –  Practical considerations for scaling up
  • Sequencing analyses and interpretation
    –  Data quality control
    –  Basic analyses for SARS-CoV-2
    –  How to share your data with the world

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to.

  • Compare sequencing methodologies
  • Critically evaluate different approaches to determine SARS-CoV-2 genomes and variants
  • Apply SARS-CoV-2 sequencing best practices
  • Identify ways in which to scale up SARS-CoV-2 sequencing
  • Describe SARS-CoV-2 analysis pipelines

Educators

Lead Educators

 

Angie Beckett
Molecular Biologist, University of Portsmouth, UK

I use nanopore sequencing to discover novel, plastic-degrading enzymes in the environment.

Charlotte Williams
University College London, UK

I am an Applications Specialist at UCL Genomics, performing NGS and specialising in WGS of pathogens by target enrichment, usually in a high-throughput way.

Dr Geetha Nagaraj
Central Research Laboratory, KIMS, Bengaluru, India

I work as an Associate Professor at Central Research Laboratory, KIMS, Bengaluru. I’m a PhD graduate with 17 yrs of research experience in Genomics, Molecular biology, microbiology, proteomics and immunology.

Dr Pablo Tsukayama
Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Peru

I am a professor of microbiology at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia and a visiting research scholar at the Wellcome Sanger Institute. I study how pathogen populations evolve and spread in Peru.

Dr Rachel Williams
University College London, UK

I am the Head of Sequencing at UCL Genomics. The facility sequenced SARS-CoV-2 samples for COG-UK and also specialises in pathogen WGS directly from clinical samples using targeted enrichment.

Course Developer

Dr Liã Bárbara Arruda
Wellcome Connecting Science, UK

Contributors
The course also features contributions from the following distinguished scientists, including:

Prof Christian Happi – African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID), Redeemer’s University, Nigeria
Dr Geetika Patel – Parul Sevashram Hospital, Parul Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, India
Hannah Dent – University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom
Helena Tutill – University College London, United Kingdom
Jo Herbert – University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom
Prof Judith Breuer – University College London, United Kingdom
Dr Julianne Brown – Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom
Kate Cook – Ineos Oxford Institute, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Dr Krunal Shah – Parul Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Parul University, India
Leysa Forrest – University College London, United Kingdom
Luz Marina Martin Bernal – University College London, United Kingdom
Dr Murali Dharan Bashyam – Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), India
Dr Muthumeenakshi Bhaskaran – Central Research Laboratory, Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), India
Dr Naomi Park – Wellcome Sanger Institute, United Kingdom
Dr Oscar Enrique Torres Montaguth – University College London, United Kingdom
Dr Paola Niola – University College London, United Kingdom
Prof Paola Resende – Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), Brazil
Patricia Dyal  – University College London, United Kingdom
Dr Ramalingam Bethunaickan  – Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, India
Dr Richard Orton – Centre for Virus Research, University of Glasgow,United Kingdom
Rijo Joseph John –  Central Research Laboratory, Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), India
Dr Sam Robson – University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom
Dr Sandra Cantilena – Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom
Dr Senjuti Saha – Child Health Research Foundation, Bangladesh
Tony Brooks – University College London, United Kingdom
Varun Shamanna –  Central Research Laboratory, Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), India

What's included

COG-Train are offering everyone who joins this course a free digital upgrade, so that you can experience the full benefits of studying online for free. This means that you get:

  • 1 year access to this course, if you have joined the course, but not yet completed it,  before course finish date.
  • Includes any articles, videos, peer reviews and quizzes
  • Tests to validate your learning
  • A PDF Certificate of Achievement to prove your success when you’re eligible
Back to top Back to top