AusTrakka: Fast-tracking nationalized genomics surveillance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Tuyet Hoang; Anders Gonçalves da Silva; Amy V Jennison; Deborah A Williamson; Benjamin P Howden; Torsten Seemann

doi:10.1038/s41467-022-28529-9

AusTrakka: Fast-tracking nationalized genomics surveillance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Nat Commun. 2022 Feb 14;13(1):865. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-28529-9.

Authors

Tuyet Hoang¹, Anders Gonçalves da Silva¹, Amy V Jennison², Deborah A Williamson^{3

4}, Benjamin P Howden^#⁵, Torsten Seemann^#¹

Affiliations

¹ Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory, The Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
² Public Health Microbiology, Queensland Public Health and Infectious Diseases Reference Genomics (Q-PHIRE Genomics), Forensic and Scientific Services, Queensland Department of Health, Coopers Plains, QLD, Australia.
³ Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Royal Melbourne Hospital at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
⁴ Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Melbourne at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
⁵ Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory, The Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. bhowden@unimelb.edu.au.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has driven demand for integrated genomics, resulting in fast-tracked development of AusTrakka, Australia’s pathogen genomics platform. This facilitated rapid data sharing, democratised access to computational and bioinformatic resources and expertise, and achieved national real-time genomic surveillance.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Australia / epidemiology
COVID-19 / epidemiology
COVID-19 / transmission*
COVID-19 / virology
Computational Biology / methods*
Epidemiological Monitoring
Genomics / methods*
Humans
Pandemics / prevention & control
Patient Identification Systems / methods*
Public Health Surveillance / methods
Reproducibility of Results
SARS-CoV-2 / physiology

Grants and funding

GNT1196103/Department of Health | National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)