The mini-symposium “International Bioinformatics Connection: Spotlighting Sequencing Technologies Applied to One Health“, co-organized during the JOBIM conference by the French Society for Bioinformatics (SFBI), the French Institute of Bioinformatics (IFB), the WAVE Center, Joseph Ki-Zerbo University (UJKZ), and the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), celebrated ten years of collaboration between African institutions (Joseph Ki-Zerbo University, INERA, and WAVE) and IRD to strengthen bioinformatics capacity in West and Central Africa.
This long-standing partnership has led to the development of training initiatives such as CIBiG (3rd edition in 2026) and the organization of the first meeting of the West and Central African Bioinformatics Network (RABIAS) in Abidjan in 2025.
A delegation of 12 African scientists (10 attending in person and 2 remotely) participated in JOBIM 2026. Professor Justin S. Pita (WAVE, RABIAS) and Professor Ana Tereza Ribeiro de Vasconcelos (LNCC/AB3C, Brazil) shared their expertise on high-throughput sequencing and its applications to human, animal, plant, and environmental health within the One Health framework. Two remote JOBIM hubs, hosted at WAVE in Abidjan and at Joseph Ki-Zerbo University in Ouagadougou, enabled scientists to follow the entire conference online.
The symposium highlighted two regional networks that are helping to structure the bioinformatics community and foster scientific collaboration across regions and beyond. Discussions were further enriched by oral presentations and posters from students and researchers, showcasing the diversity and dynamism of bioinformatics initiatives across West and Central Africa.
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