An African Hepatic Modeling Platform: Can We Get There?
Includes a Live Web Event on 11/12/2024 at 9:00 AM (EST)
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The African continent harbors unparalleled genetic diversity yet remains largely underrepresented in pharmaceutical research and development. Pharmacogenomics is fundamental to precision medicine strategies, and although to date largely absent from implementation, representing the genetic diversity of the African population within the laboratory is critical to the democratization of stratified and effective healthcare in Africa. Afrocentric preclinical resources could support precision medicine on the continent and reshape the global underrepresentation of African genetics in science. Models which could begin to address this include primary human hepatocytes, immortalized hepatic cell lines, and human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)derived hepatocyte-like cells – derived from individuals of African genetic ancestry. The feasibility of an African hepatic modeling platform is slowly being realized due to the convergence of several technologies and methodologies which have traditionally been siloed on the continent.