Children with cancer in Africa face much higher mortality rates (80%) compared with children in high-income countries (20%). Inadequate diagnostic infrastructure combined with limited healthcare professional pediatric cancer diagnostic expertise are contributors to these high mortality rates in Africa. While it is known that genetics are linked to the development of some pediatric cancers, more studies are needed to understand which genetic factors influence cancer development and treatment outcomes in African patients.
Prof. Abibatou Sall, Head of the Laboratory of Hematology at National Hospital Center Dalal Jamm in Dakar, Senegal, was recently awarded the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) Early Career Fellowship. Through her fellowship, Prof. Sall is conducting a first-of-its-kind study that utilizes next generation sequencing (NGS) to examine the landscape of genetic alterations in Senegalese children with cancer. Prof. Sall’s results are expected to identify and differentiate genetic abnormalities between cancer types, allowing for greatly improved diagnostic precision and optimized treatment regimens in Senegal.
To support her fellowship project, BVGH arranged for Prof. Sall to receive hands-on NGS training by Dr. Robert Meller, Associate Director of the Institute for Translational Genomic Medicine and Professor of Neurobiology at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. Prof. Sall spent two weeks in Dr. Meller’s laboratory, gaining experience with an Ion Torrent next generation sequencer, troubleshooting issues, and practicing manual approaches to NGS. This newfound knowledge will enable Prof. Sall to efficiently analyze Senegalese pediatric cancer patient samples and identify genetic abnormalities that she will explore further.
“The training I received from Dr. Meller and his team was very important to my project and our capacities at Dalal Jamm. I am now much more familiar with NGS and can effectively use it to improve diagnosis of pediatric cancers in Senegal.”
– Prof. Abibatou Sall