About the author

Umar Ahmad, PhD, is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anatomy and the Human Genetics Informatics Unit, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, Sa’adu Zungur University, Bauchi, Nigeria, and Senior Technical Officer for Pathogen Genomics at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. He took his PhD in human genetics and genomics at Universiti Putra Malaysia and the Malaysia Genome Institute, and has worked for more than twelve years across genomics research, bioinformatics and multi-country scientific collaboration in Africa.

His research is in cancer genomics: transcriptome profiling of bladder and other urothelial cancers, using RNA-seq, single-cell RNA-seq, whole-genome and whole-exome sequencing to identify molecular drivers, therapeutic resistance and protein interaction networks, and the mechanisms by which oncolytic Newcastle disease virus establishes persistent infection in cancer cells.

At Africa CDC he coordinates genomic surveillance, bioinformatics and workforce development across African Union Member States, and leads AGARI, the continental platform for pathogen genomic data sharing and public health intelligence. He has contributed to genomic surveillance strategies at both continental and national level, among them the Pathogen Genomic Surveillance Policy Framework, the roadmap for malaria genomic surveillance in Africa, the AC-GCAT genomics capacity assessment tool and its manual, and continental technical guidance on mpox testing and sequencing.

In 2021 he founded BioSeq, a genomics and bioinformatics company built on four pillars: genomics, bioinformatics, artificial intelligence and capacity building. He also founded the Open Science Community Nigeria, which has since grown into the Open Science Community Network. He is an Academic Editor of PLOS ONE and of Applied Research, a member of the Bioconductor Community Advisory Board, a board member of the Directory of Open Access Journals and of the International Network of Open Science and Scholarship Communities, and a founding member both of the Nigerian Bioinformatics and Genomics Network and of the Community of Practice on Human Genomics and Genomic Medicine at the Africa Bioinformatics Institute.

He teaches human genetics, bioinformatics and R programming, supervises postgraduate research, and has designed genomics and bioinformatics training for professionals across the continent. This book is a direct expression of the conviction that computational skills are learned by use.

ORCID: 0000-0002-3216-5171

# About the author {.unnumbered} **Umar Ahmad, PhD**, is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anatomy and the Human Genetics Informatics Unit, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, Sa'adu Zungur University, Bauchi, Nigeria, and Senior Technical Officer for Pathogen Genomics at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. He took his PhD in human genetics and genomics at Universiti Putra Malaysia and the Malaysia Genome Institute, and has worked for more than twelve years across genomics research, bioinformatics and multi-country scientific collaboration in Africa. His research is in cancer genomics: transcriptome profiling of bladder and other urothelial cancers, using RNA-seq, single-cell RNA-seq, whole-genome and whole-exome sequencing to identify molecular drivers, therapeutic resistance and protein interaction networks, and the mechanisms by which oncolytic Newcastle disease virus establishes persistent infection in cancer cells. At Africa CDC he coordinates genomic surveillance, bioinformatics and workforce development across African Union Member States, and leads AGARI, the continental platform for pathogen genomic data sharing and public health intelligence. He has contributed to genomic surveillance strategies at both continental and national level, among them the Pathogen Genomic Surveillance Policy Framework, the roadmap for malaria genomic surveillance in Africa, the AC-GCAT genomics capacity assessment tool and its manual, and continental technical guidance on mpox testing and sequencing. In 2021 he founded BioSeq, a genomics and bioinformatics company built on four pillars: genomics, bioinformatics, artificial intelligence and capacity building. He also founded the Open Science Community Nigeria, which has since grown into the Open Science Community Network. He is an Academic Editor of PLOS ONE and of Applied Research, a member of the Bioconductor Community Advisory Board, a board member of the Directory of Open Access Journals and of the International Network of Open Science and Scholarship Communities, and a founding member both of the Nigerian Bioinformatics and Genomics Network and of the Community of Practice on Human Genomics and Genomic Medicine at the Africa Bioinformatics Institute. He teaches human genetics, bioinformatics and R programming, supervises postgraduate research, and has designed genomics and bioinformatics training for professionals across the continent. This book is a direct expression of the conviction that computational skills are learned by use. ORCID: [0000-0002-3216-5171](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3216-5171)