title: Building local capacity for genomics research in Africa: recommendations from analysis of publications in Sub-Saharan Africa from 2004 to 2013.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The poor genomics research capacity of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) could prevent maximal benefits from the applications of genomics in the practice of medicine and research. The objective of this study is to examine the author affiliations of genomic epidemiology publications in order to make recommendations for building local genomics research capacity in SSA.
  
  
  METHODS
  SSA genomic epidemiology articles published between 2004 and 2013 were extracted from the Human Genome Epidemiology (HuGE) database. Data on authorship details, country of population studied, and phenotype or disease were extracted. Factors associated with the first author, who has an SSA institution affiliation (AIAFA), were determined using a Chi-square test and multiple logistic regression analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The most commonly studied population was South Africa, accounting for 31.1%, followed by Ghana (10.6%) and Kenya (7.5%). About one-tenth of the papers were related to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer (6.1%) and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) (4.3%). Fewer than half of the first authors (46.9%) were affiliated with an African institution. Among the 238 articles with an African first author, over three-quarters (79.8%) belonged to a university or medical school, 16.8% were affiliated with a research institute, and 3.4% had affiliations with other institutions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Significant disparities currently exist among SSA countries in genomics research capacity. South Africa has the highest genomics research output, which is reflected in the investments made in its genomics and biotechnology sector. These findings underscore the need to focus on developing local capacity, especially among those affiliated with SSA universities where there are more opportunities for teaching and research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria; tukankar@yahoo.co.uk.
authors.forename: Babatunde O
authors.initials: BO
authors.lastname: Adedokun
authors.affiliation: Centre for Global Health, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher O
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Olopade
authors.affiliation: Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics and Global Health, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Olufunmilayo I
authors.initials: OI
authors.lastname: Olopade
mesh_terms: D017954:Africa South of the Sahara; D015706:Bibliometrics; D035843:Biomedical Research; D057191:Capacity Building; D003906:Developing Countries; D023281:Genomics; D006801:Humans; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D012577:Schools, Medical; D014495:Universities
keywords: bibliometric analysis; capacity building; genomics; health research; sub-Saharan Africa