Sentinel Selected for Scale-up Support by Paris Peace Forum

Sentinel, our project focused on developing a pandemic pre-emption and response system, has received another boost as it was selected for scale-up support at the just concluded fourth edition of Paris Peace Forum (PPF).

Out of 80 projects that were showcased at the global event, Sentinel was one of the ten projects that will benefit from scale-up by the Paris Peace Forum.

As a scale-up project, Sentinel will enjoy dedicated and customized support from assigned mentor(s) and from the Paris Peace Forum Secretariat in the areas of policy and advocacy, communication and visibility, partnership and funding, as well as organizational management.

Sentinel was co-initiated by ACEGID and Broad Institute, both partnering with key private and public global partners in technology and public health. These partners include Illumina, Zalgen Labs, Dimagi, Fathom, Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, and national ministries of health of participating countries, among others.

“Sentinel is built on three major pillars: Detect, Connect and Empower. With Detect, Sentinel uses genomics tools and technologies to detect known and unknown pathogens or threats in real time. Connect involves linking the diagnostic information generated through Detect to public health across the globe in real time,” said Prof. Christian Happi, Director at ACEGID. “Empower involves empowering front line health care workers in order to use all the Sentinel tools for detecting early and responding to pandemics in real time,” he continued.

The PPF scale up opportunity will provide the mentorship and access to key resources, partnerships and fundraising opportunities that the Sentinel program needs as it expands its reach across West and Central Africa.