Meet the Team
The people behind building and operationalizing the African DSI DataBank.
Core Team
Manages the Continental Hub's own operations, supports every node, develops, operationalizes, and maintains the tooling and software behind the DataBank.
Dr. ThankGod Echezona Ebenezer
Principal Software & AI Engineer for the African DSI DataBank · African BioGenome Project (AfricaBP)
ThankGod is the Founder & Co-Chair of the African BioGenome Project (AfricaBP) as well as the Principal Software & Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineer for the African DSI DataBank. With extensive multi-year experiences in biodiversity genomics and bioinformatics projects, research, community-building, Software Engineering and AI, stakeholders engagements and partnership frameworks, as well as ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) of DSI. ThankGod obtained his PhD degree from the University of Cambridge, UK; MSc from the University of Lagos, and BSc from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nigeria. Through the AfricaBP and its Open Institute, ThankGod brought together over 65 African and non-African institutions, and since 2022 has supported the coordination and delivery of over 130 workshops across 12 African countries that reached over 50 African states, and trained over 1500 African researchers in hands-on genomics, bioinformatics, data analysis, molecular biology, ELSI and DSI.
Contributions: Built and engineered the African DSI DataBank; implemented and carried out all Software and AI Engineering works, including ongoing production and maintenance.
Prof. Achraf El Allali
Associate Professor · Bioinformatics Laboratory, College of Computing, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Ben Guerir, Morocco
Prof. Achraf El Allali is an Associate Professor at the College of Computing at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), where he leads the Bioinformatics Laboratory aimed at advancing UM6P's research goals in agriculture, environment, and health. His research lies at the intersection of computational omics and genomic language models (gLMs), leveraging sequence-to-function foundation models to decode complex biological sequences. Prof. El Allali drives the development of innovative computational tools, algorithms, and high-performance web applications, while establishing dedicated platforms and databases to host web services for the broader scientific community. Through these computational omics resources, his work enables high-throughput data analysis and functional annotation across genomic, metagenomic, and bio-environmental applications.
Contributions: Prof El Allali has been involved in planning the African DSI DataBank through strategic engagements with the core team. He was involved in evaluating the platform, conducting testing, and providing actionable feedback during its incubation. Moving forward, he aims to expand the platform’s impact by facilitating regional node connections, supporting database cross-referencing, and driving seamless interoperability across African repositories.
Dr. Abdoallah Sharaf
Senior Bioinformatician / Professor · SequAna – Sequencing Analysis Core Facility, University of Konstanz, Germany / Ain Shams University, Egypt
Dr. Abdoallah Sharaf is a Senior Bioinformatician at SequAna – Sequencing Analysis Core Facility, University of Konstanz, Germany, and Professor of Genetics at Ain Shams University, Egypt. He has completed several international research fellowships and collaborations with leading institutions in Italy, Spain, and the Czech Republic, gaining extensive experience in international genomics research environments. Dr. Sharaf serves voluntarily as Co-Chair of the African BioGenome Project (AfricaBP), Science, Technology, Monitoring, and Evaluation Subcommittee (STMEC), where he contributes to strategic planning, genomic data generation, and capacity-building initiatives across Africa. His research focuses on comparative genomics and genome evolution, particularly in unicellular eukaryotes near the root of major eukaryotic supergroups. He has strong expertise in genome assembly and annotation using short- and long-read sequencing technologies and is actively involved in developing scalable, reproducible bioinformatics pipelines for genome and transcriptome analysis. Dr. Sharaf regularly serves as a peer reviewer for several international journals and is a member of the Reviewer Board for MDPI Microorganisms and the Genetics and Biodiversity Journal (GABJ).
Contributions: Dr. Sharaf has contributed to the development of the Gene2OneHealth tool and has been involved in reviewing, testing, and providing feedback on the African DSI DataBank. Going forward, he aims to contribute further to the development and testing of bioinformatics tools and data resources, particularly those supporting genomic data discovery, analysis, and capacity building across Africa.
Thematic Areas and Members
Genomes & Proteins
Genome and transcriptome sequence records, and the protein sequences translated from them or sourced from external references such as UniProt.
Dr. Yedomon Ange Bovys Zoclanclounon
Bioinformatics Scientist - Postdoctoral Researcher · Rothamsted Research, UK
Dr Yedomon Ange Bovys Zoclanclounon is a bioinformatics scientist and plant genomics researcher at Rothamsted Research, United Kingdom. He currently works at Rothamsted Research, where his research focuses on genomics, computational biology, and the application of bioinformatics to plant science and the bioeconomy. He holds a PhD in Crop Science and Biotechnology from Jeonbuk National University, South Korea, where he conducted research on sesame germplasm. His scientific interests span plant genomics, genome annotation, comparative genomics, transcriptomics, and the development of computational approaches for understanding crop diversity and improvement. He is also actively involved in African genomics initiatives. He has contributed to the African BioGenome Project and serves as Co-Chair of its Genome Annotation Subcommittee. Through his research, training, and scientific engagement, he is committed to strengthening genomics capacity in Africa and promoting the use of advanced biological and computational technologies to address agricultural and environmental challenges.
Contributions: Dr. Zoclanclounon has contributed to development of the Gene2OneHealth tool and has played an active role in reviewing, testing, and providing feedback on the African DSI DataBank. Moving forward, he seeks to expand his contributions to the development, validation, and application of bioinformatics data resources, with a focus on comparative genomics of African species in improving agricultural productivity and health.
Dr. Sadik Muzemil
Postdoctoral Researcher (Bioinformatics Data Engineer) · University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
Sadik Muzemil is a Postdoctoral Researcher (Bioinformatics Data Engineer) at the University of Liverpool, contributing to FungiDB and HostDB within VEuPathDB, and an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Warwick, where he continues genomics research on enset (Ensete ventricosum) and its pests. Since 2020 he has co-chaired the Pilot Committee (now the STMEC) of the African BioGenome Project (AfricaBP).
Contributions: I contributed to the testing of the African DSI DataBank website during its development. Going forward, I aim to contribute to increasing the representation of genomics data and functionality within the African dSI DataBank
Operations
Federation oversight, node registration and approval, mirroring/ingest pipelines, data transfers, and platform governance.
Dr. Zahra Mungloo-Dilmohamud
Associate Professor · Department of Digital Technologies (FoICDT), University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius
Zahra Mungloo-Dilmohamud is an Associate Professor at the University of Mauritius and a researcher in computational biology, health informatics, and artificial intelligence. Her research focuses on applying AI and data-driven approaches to genomics, biodiversity genomics and health, with particular interests in responsible AI, digital sequence information (DSI) and genomic data. She contributes to initiatives supporting African genomics and biodiversity research, including the Africa BioGenome Project and eLwazi, and is interested in strengthening African capacity, data sovereignty and equitable access to genomic and biodiversity data.
Contributions: My contribution focuses on supporting the development of the African DSI DataBank. With my background in computing, I also provide feedback relevant to improving the DataBank's user experience (UI/UX). I expect to contribute further to the design, development and continuous improvement of the DataBank, including its technical architecture, functionality and integration of AI and bioinformatics capabilities.
Mr. Chukwuike Ebuzome
Master’s Student, · University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
Chukwuike Ebuzome is a Zoologist and Environmental Management and Assessment researcher with experience in biodiversity conservation, genomics, environmental education, and scientific communication. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree at the University of Aveiro, Portugal, with research interests spanning soil science, biochar, soil carbon, environmental assessment, sustainability, Life Cycle Assessment, and data-driven environmental management. He has also contributed to biodiversity and genomic research initiatives and is interested in the application of data and digital tools to strengthen scientific research, biodiversity knowledge, and environmental decision-making.
Contributions: As a member of the Operations Thematic Area, I support the coordination and operational development of the African DSI DataBank. My contributions include supporting website development and content curation, identifying and documenting technical issues, and coordinating meeting agendas and reminders. I also support communication and representation activities, contributing to the DataBank’s digital presence, accessibility, and overall operational efficiency.
Mr. Andrews Frimpong Adu
Researcher & Systems Administrator · Biodata Research Group, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
Andrews Frimpong Adu is a computational scientist and bioinformatics engineer at the Biodata Research Group, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana, and contributes to AI development projects within the African BioGenome Project (AfricaBP). His research centers on applied mathematics (ML/AI), genome assembly, pangenomics, and graph based genome representations, including the development of vMUS-dBG, a novel de Bruijn graph model for de novo genome assembly. He is an active contributor to the African Reference Genome Graph initiative (H3ABioNet) and manages the HPC infrastructure that supports large-scale genomics research across the continent. Andrews is a PhD researcher in Biodata Analytics and Computational Genomics at KNUST and has mentored over 100+ students in bioinformatics and reproducible research practices.
Contributions: I have contributed to the African DSI DataBank through data curation and platform review, identifying record inconsistencies and recommending metadata improvements. I expect to continue supporting data curation, quality assurance, and metadata standardization for the DataBank.