News Releases

UWI performs Next Generation Sequencing service for the first time in Jamaica

For Release Upon Receipt - February 25, 2022

Mona


 

The UWI Mona Campus, Kingston, Jamaica. Friday, February 25, 2022—The University of the West Indies (The UWI) Mona Campus – working in close collaboration with the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) and the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) - has established a Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Service in the Department of Microbiology in Faculty of Medical Sciences.  

The NGS service was established following the generous donation of a MiSeq Next Generation sequencer from Jamaica’s Ministry of Health & Wellness and funded by the CHASE Fund as part of the country’s national response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Next generation sequencing is essential to the national COVID-19 response, helping to identify known variants circulating, as well as new variants that arise amid low vaccination rates. NGS also has wide applicability in biology and overall health, including answering fundamental questions in HIV/AIDS, in biodiversity, natural product research, vector management, pathogen surveillance, antibiotic resistance and healthcare-associated infections.   

As a priority, the service is focused on determining circulating variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes COVID-19. In its first run, appropriate samples were selected from the National Public Health Laboratory, under the guidance of the National Surveillance Unit of the Ministry of Health & Wellness, and the first results revealed a preponderance of the Omicron variant in Jamaica.   

From January 17 and 21, 2022, the UWI team was trained by Illumina—a US firm that develops, manufactures, and markets integrated systems for the analysis of genetic variation and biological function. Subsequently, the first SARS-CoV-2 variants were produced in Jamaica; a critical step in building the country’s capacity to assist in the identification of known variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and assisting other countries in the region who may require such services. 

Professor John Lindo, Head of the Microbiology Department at The UWI Mona Campus, said, “The service at the Campus now obviates the need for researchers to send samples overseas for sequencing at great expense and only after navigating a long and bureaucratic export process.” 

Dr Joshua Anzinger, who led the UWI Team said he is “extremely thankful for all the funding bodies that made possible the introduction of next generation sequencing for the first time in Jamaica, and grateful for the outstanding technical work of the sequencing team at the UWI Mona’s Department of Microbiology.” He added, “We are now positioned to provide much more rapid COVID-19 variant results than having samples shipped and tested off island. Furthermore, the acquisition of the MiSeq sequencer and other required sequencing equipment allows not only for this cutting edge technology that can characterize existing pathogens but can also be used to identify unknown pathogens. Having a next generation sequencing laboratory in Jamaica is a major step forward for the country.” 

The commencement of this project sees The UWI, Mona joining its sister campus, St Augustine which was initially the only facility providing whole genome sequencing of viruses to the CARICOM region. Similar to the arrangement in Jamaica, The UWI St Augustine Campus also does SARS-CoV-2 sequencing for Trinidad and Tobago, on behalf of its Ministry of Health, as well as for other countries on behalf of CARPHA. 

Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of The UWI Mona Campus, Professor Dale Webber welcomed the service and acknowledged the partnership that made it possible. He remarked, “The collaboration among The UWI, the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) and the Ministry of Health and Wellness which led to the successful roll out of NGS at Mona speaks to our commitment to use our human and other resources in responding to the pandemic.” 

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Related News: Battling the COVID-19 Epidemic with Genome Sequencing 

Photo Caption: The UWI team, led by Dr Joshua Anzinger, (back, right) pictured in a training session conducted by Illumina. 

High Resolution photos can be accessed HERE. 

About The University of the West Indies 

The UWI has been and continues to be a pivotal force in every aspect of Caribbean development; residing at the centre of all efforts to improve the well-being of people across the region. 

From a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948, The UWI is today an internationally respected, global university with near 50,000 students and five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda and its Open Campus, and 10 global centres in partnership with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe.

The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Culture, Creative and Performing Arts, Food and Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology, Social Sciences, and Sport. As the Caribbean’s leading university, it possesses the largest pool of Caribbean intellect and expertise committed to confronting the critical issues of our region and wider world. 

The UWI has been consistently ranked among the top universities globally by the most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education (THE). In the latest World University Rankings 2022, released in September 2021, The UWI moved up an impressive 94 places from last year. In the current global field of some 30,000 universities and elite research institutes, The UWI stands among the top 1.5%. 

The UWI is the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists since its debut in the rankings in 2018. In addition to its leading position in the Caribbean, it is also in the top 20 for Latin America and the Caribbean and the top 100 global Golden Age universities (between 50 and 80 years old).  The UWI is also featured among the leading universities on THE’s Impact Rankings for its response to the world’s biggest concerns, outlined in the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Good Health and Wellbeing; Gender Equality and Climate Action. 

For more, visit www.uwi.edu.

 

 

 

 

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