H3Africa: a model for implementing biobank-based genomic research in resource-constrained settings

The Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) consortium was initiated in 2012 to develop an enabling environment for fundamental and applied genomic research in Africa. By 2024, H3Africa included over 500 researchers across 30 African countries and had contributed to supporting 480 PhD graduates and 467 trainees, held over 200 workshops, and published over 700 papers. A distinguishing feature of this consortium was that the model enabled research to be led by African scientists and targeted research questions relevant to African populations. Prompted by the limited infrastructure, resources, and skills to conduct such research projects in most African countries, the consortium dedicated its early efforts and funding toward developing infrastructure and resources such as DNA biorepositories, bioinformatics capacity and ethical and legal guidelines to support such projects. The consortium operated under a complex framework that included a coordinating center, research projects, collaborative centers, and supporting infrastructure such as the biorepositories and the Pan-African bioinformatics network (H3ABioNet). In this brief review, we summarized some of the major contributions of H3Africa to omics research and towards developing a sustainable research enterprise in Africa. Although the funding for the consortium formally ended in 2023, H3Africa continues to sustain its core resources and generate new datasets, publications and collaborations. Given the limited genomic representation of the global south in complex trait genetics research, we illustrate the ways in which the H3Africa consortium is a template for transnational omics research in a resource-constrained setting.