Establishment and implementation of an external quality assurance program for next-generation sequencing-based HIV drug resistance typing

Funding period: 2023–2025
Lead: Hezhao Ji
Total GRDI funding: $186,800

Effective monitoring of HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) is needed at both individual and population levels for improved containment of HIV/AIDS. With previous GRDI support, scientists from the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory developed a MiSeq-HyDRA platform for enhanced HIVDR surveillance. This was accomplished by integrating next-generation sequencing into HIVDR typing.

The goal of this project is to continue collaborating with national and international counterparts and includes developing a proposal for resuming work on building and implementing an innovative external quality assurance program to support the general adoption of next-generation sequencing HIVDR technology in Canada and beyond. This proposal comprises proficiency test material and the launch of the very first external quality assurance program for next-generation sequencing HIVDR typing.