Genomics of Diseases in Wildlife Workshop; June 2-9, 2019; May/June, 2020; Fort Collins, CO

Colorado State University, Fort Collins CO

Investigators

Abstract

Wildlife populations can be drastically affected by the outbreak and transmission of infectious diseases. Examples of this include white nose syndrome which is devastating bat populations in the US, and Chytrid fungus outbreaks that have caused declines in frog populations worldwide. Some diseases of wildlife, for example, Rabies, Ebola, and West Nike Virus, can cause outbreaks of disease in people, while other infections of wildlife, such as Brucellosis and African Swine Fever, can be fatal to domestic animals and livestock. Extraordinary new tools greatly improve our ability to detect infection and understand why it sometimes is devastating and sometimes not. While these new technologies make this an exciting time for new discoveries and understanding that will improve wildlife disease management, many researchers would benefit from training in their use. To address this need, we offer hands-on training with real-world data through an intensive workshop "Genomics of Disease in Wildlife" (GDW). The first two workshops offered in 2017 and 2018 were very successful and provided training for nearly 50 graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and faculty in Next Generation DNA Sequencing analysis to use in projects about wildlife diseases. Going forward, this project will provide scholarships to 12-14 graduate students or fellows (US citizens) with financial need to attend workshops in 2019 and 2020. We will preferentially use these funds to enhance diverse or underrepresented minority participation and have been successful in recruiting women and diverse attendees to maximize training impacts. This financial assistance will also facilitate building a cohesive, effective scientific community making breakthroughs in control of infectious wildlife diseases. For example, we have recently published a manuscript helping the scientific community identify critical next challenges, and the GDW workshop alumni are also involved in a listserv to promote communications among a growing number of researchers with interest and expertise in GDW problems. Recent technological advances in genomic sciences, and increasingly affordable Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) assay costs, have coalesced to result in powerful tools to monitor, detect, and reconstruct the past, present, and future role of pathogens impacting wildlife populations. Wildlife researchers are thus uniquely positioned to merge ecological, biological, and evolutionary studies with such genomic technologies to exploit unprecedented "Big Data" tools in disease research; however, most researchers lack the training and expertise required to use these computationally intensive methodologies. Previous workshops have consisted of lectures, daily computer labs, and analysis of real-world NGS data. Previous workshops have provided comprehensive training in the use of genomic tools for investigations of a broad range of interactions between wildlife host species and their pathogens, and provided unique networking opportunities among instructors, guest speakers, and participants. This project will provide support for two additional years of workshops. Funds will be awarded as scholarships for US graduate students and post-doctoral fellows interested in obtaining skills in this emerging area. This award will encourage participation by early career researchers. Participants will learn modern genomics techniques and generate powerful genomic solutions to ameliorate the local, regional, and global impact of wildlife disease. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.