Geography of Genetics and Genomics Research Funding in Africa

An estimated U.S. $300 billion is spent each year on medical research. What proportion of this goes to genomics and genetics research in Africa? Until recently, this type of question was nearly impossible to answer. The World RePORT database, sponsored by the Heads of International Research Organizations (HIRO) and managed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), provides a first attempt at answering questions on the distribution of research funding by geography and research organization. In this journal issue on the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa), we explore the geography of biomedical research funding in the genomics field with special emphasis on Africa. Using World RePORT, we identified 185 research projects in genetics and genomics in Africa in 2015 with total funding exceeding U.S. $216 million. These numbers are likely incomplete and more efforts at collating data from funder organizations is needed. A comprehensive snapshot of funders’ portfolios will be invaluable to research investigators and policy makers in the identification of research gaps and analysis of allocation priorities to facilitate evidence-based decision-making for public—research-funding organizations.