Overview

Cloud-based platforms are transforming the way public health scientists and bioinformaticians conduct large-scale genomic analyses. Terra, developed by the Broad Institute, is a cloud-native platform designed to support scalable, secure, and reproducible biomedical research. This presentation highlights the power of Terra in facilitating pathogen genomics workflows, especially in the context of infectious disease surveillance and antimicrobial resistance monitoring.

We will demonstrate how Terra supports end-to-end analyses—from raw sequence data to actionable insights—by showcasing key tools and workflows developed for microbial genome assembly, variant calling, phylogenetics, antimicrobial resistance prediction, and data visualization. Through real-world use cases from projects in Africa and beyond, we illustrate how researchers can leverage Terra’s shared workspaces, version-controlled workflows, and integrated data storage to collaborate seamlessly across institutions and geographies.

The presentation will also explore how Terra democratizes access to cutting-edge bioinformatics pipelines such as TheiaProk and other open-source workflows hosted on Dockstore. Emphasis will be placed on best practices for onboarding users, managing project costs through billing controls, and ensuring reproducibility using the Workflow Description Language (WDL).

Finally, we will discuss lessons learned from deploying Terra in global public health contexts, focusing on capacity-building, sustainability, and data sovereignty. This session is designed for researchers, students, and implementation experts seeking to adopt cloud-based solutions for pathogen genomics and bioinformatics at scale.

Type of training

Virtual Webinar

Date

Intended Audience

For individuals interested to learn about Terra

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