Introducing the Catalyst Project Community Partner Highlights

- Katie Pratt, Sabrina

Picture by The Catalyst Project (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Catalyst Project is a community-engaged initiative designed to support the adoption of open science principles in under-served bioscientific research communities through the provision of reliable and sustainable cloud computing infrastructure. It’s a project we’ve been working on now for almost two years, which involves staff from seven different organizations: 2i2c, The Carpentries, CCAD, CSCCE, IOI, MetaDocencia, and OLS, and is funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

A key part of the project is engaging with Community Partners in Africa and Latin America: Institutions, organizations, and individuals who are undertaking bioscientific research projects that require cloud computing infrastructure. As collaborators on the Catalyst Project, Community Partners can access and use 2i2c’s open science cloud services, and also receive training from 2i2c, The Carpentries, MetaDocencia, and OLS to support their work. Community Partners also play a vital role in shaping an evolving governance model for the Catalyst Project to help sustain, scale, and maximize impact in Latin America, Africa, and under-served communities around the world.

In a new collection of blog posts (that we hope will expand over the next couple of months!), we’re highlighting the work of the Catalyst Project Community Partners. This post is a gateway to learning more about the Catalyst Project and its Community Partners. If you have any questions or feedback about the project, please send an email to the core team.

Highlighting the Catalyst Project Community Partners

The Catalyst Project currently involves 19 Community Partners, 9 in Africa and 10 in Latin America. Our initial blog post series showcases seven of the Partners, and each post is available in English and Spanish:

African Institute of Biomedical Science and Technology (AiBST)

Logo of African Institute of Biomedical Science and Technology: The picture shows a primarily red and navy blue logo. On the left, a circle wraps around a double helix. Around the circle, the words "African Institute" and "of Biomedical Science and Technology" are written in navy blue and red respectively. On the right, the rest of the logo is formed by a capitalised acronym of the institute's name - AiBST. Only the letter "i" is written in lowercase red text, while the others are in navy blue.

At the African Institute of Biomedical Sciences and Technology (AiBST) in Zimbabwe, Zedias Chikwambi and colleagues are working to discover and utilise biomarkers to guide personalized medical treatment.

“Through the Catalyst Project we are able to bring genomic information interpretation to patient bedsides.” - Zedias Chikwambi

Read more about AiBST’s work with the Catalyst Project: ENG; ESP

Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST)

Logo of Malawi University of Science and Technology: The image shows a gray and black logo which mainly comprises of a large shield. Within the shield, a white triangle contains three elements - a green wheel above, a purple atom below, and an open gray and red book next to the right of the atom. Above the shield, the words "MALAWI UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY" is written in capitalised black text. Just above the text, the acronym of the university's name is written in bold and capitalised black text - MUST. Under the shield is written "WHERE EXCELLENCE REIGNS" in black.

The Catalyst Project Community at the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) is working to popularize the applicability of data science and artificial intelligence in various undergraduate and postgraduate research contexts in Malawi, including health, business, and education.

“…many staff and students need… a robust and easily accessible platform from which they c[an] efficiently run their machine learning models and do advanced data analysis for their data science research…” - Bennett Kankuzi

Read more about MUST’s work with the Catalyst Project: ENG; ESP

MolerHealth

Logo of MolerHealth

MolerHealth is focused on revolutionizing healthcare in Nigeria by developing an accessible electronic health record (EHR) system aimed at reducing disease misdiagnosis.

“Access to training, like The Carpentries Instructor Training, has empowered our team with essential skills for effective teaching and collaboration.” - Monsurat Onabajo

Read more about MolerHealth’s work with the Catalyst Project: ENG; ESP

Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST)

Logo of Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology: Image displays a circle containing the words "Nelson Mandela" and "Institute of Science and Technology" that are written in a way that they form an arch around three elements. These elements are a microscope, a wheel and an open book. On the lower end, within the circle, the word "Arusha" is wrriten in black, just underneath the open book. Under the circle is written "Academia for Society and Industry."

The Northern Tanzania One Health Research Group, hosted at the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST), is using the Catalyst Cloud Infrastructure to understand the transmission dynamics, genetic diversity, and antimicrobial resistance of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (Mtb) between humans and livestock in Northern Tanzania.

“…access to training, particularly through the 2i2c Hub Champion Training, has significantly enhanced our ability to manage and optimize cloud-based resources.” - Beatus M Lyimo

Read more about NM-AIST’s work with the Catalyst Project: ENG; ESP

Nodo Nacional de Bioinformática (NNB-CCG)

Logo of Nodo Nacional de Bioinformática: The logo is divided into two halves by a black line running down the middle. To the left of the dividing line, a circle with teal background contains the acronym "NNB". To the right, the words "Nodo Nacional de Bioinformática" are written in the same teal colour, and immediately under the text is "CCG UNAM" in a light shade of green.

The Nodo Nacional de Bioinformática (NNB-CCG) of the Centro de Ciencias Genómicas (CCG) - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) is a group that brings together professionals and academics to support, provide services, and maintain the growth of the field of bioinformatics in the country’s research.

“[Our] goal is to optimize our participation in events, assess the usefulness of the Catalyst Project’s resources, and, in turn, provide the Catalyst Project with guidelines to improve their service by identifying the necessary areas for improvement within the institutions.” - Shirley Alquicira Hernández

Read more about NNB-CCG’s work with the Catalyst Project: ENG; ESP

Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias (INER)

Logo of Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias: The logo consists of the acronym "UCDS" in bold, teal and capitalised, above the words "UNIDAD DE CIENCIA DE DATOS EN SALUD." Another logo is found under the first in this image and contains the word "labbic" above the words "Laboratorio de Biología Computacional." Both texts are in navy blue.

Collaborators at INER are using the Catalyst Cloud Infrastructure to implement machine learning algorithms that will classify radiology images of pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE), with a view to improving patient outcomes.

“The Catalyst Project is helping us to collaborate more efficiently and work remotely.” - Yalbi I. Balderas-Martinez

Read more about INER’s work with the Catalyst Project: ENG; ESP

Centro Interdisciplinario en Ciencia de Datos y Aprendizaje Automático (CICADA)

Logo of Centro Interdisciplinario en Ciencia de Datos y Aprendizaje Automático: This image shows a blue logo, comprising of a circle on the left, and the acronym "CICADA" on the right.

CICADA, an interdisciplinary center researching data science and machine learning, is using the Catalyst CLoud Infrastructure to analyze Uruguayan population data to understand patterns of migration, how much of the native footprint remains, and what can be said about the people who lived in the Uruguayan territory before the arrival of Europeans.

“The Catalyst Project…trainings are attractive, as they are respectful of the people, no previous knowledge is assumed, and the instructors are welcoming.” - María Inés Fariello Rico

Read more about CICADA’s work with the Catalyst Project: ENG; ESP

You can find a full list of all of the Catalyst Project Community Partners on the Catalyst Project website.

About these blog posts - acknowledgements

Creating a series of blog posts to highlight the work of the Catalyst Community Partners was a collaborative effort involving staff from CSCCE, 2i2c, OLS, and MetaDocencia. Specifically, Lou Woodley, Katie Pratt, Jenny Wong, and Tajuddeen Gwadabe conceived the idea during our regular Catalyst Project “website team” meetings, and developed a strategy for reaching out to community partners to gather information.

Katie then led that outreach, which involved a representative of each Community Partners completing a Google Form to answer three key questions and sharing a photo (or a selection of photos) to use on the blog. Katie curated all of the information, edited together the blog posts, and secured sign-off from all of the partners. Sabrina López coordinated the translation of the posts from English to Spanish, and Jenny formatted and published them on the website.

We’re grateful to the Community Partners for generously sharing more about their work - and we look forward to highlighting more Catalyst Project Community Partners soon!