PGCoE Network - Education

Workforce Development and Education

Educating the public health workforce on how to leverage genomic technologies to investigate and respond to infectious diseases threats is a key pillar of the Pathogen Genomics Centers of Excellence (PGCoE) Network. Educational opportunities include broad, national initatives spearheaded by the Lead PGCoE for Education, as well as trainings and tutorials conducted and made available by all individual PGCoE sites. These resources and educational videos span core pathogen genomics principles, effective laboratory protocols, and state-of-the-art analytical tools.

Lead PGCoE for Education

The PGCoE Lead Education program website is officially live! Our education program, Pathogen Genomics for Public Health, features free, self-paced courses designed for the current public health workforce, including laboratorians, bioinformaticians, and epidemiologists, as well as:

Future workforce, including fellows, trainees, and students
Clinicians and infection preventionists
Researchers and other interested learners
Program directors and laboratory leaders

Foundations I & II

Two foundational courses build basic skills to turn pathogen genomic insights into public health action:

Foundations I: Conceptual Foundations of Pathogen Genomics

Foundations II: Technical Introduction to Pathogen Genomic Epidemiology: Mutations, Transmission, and Phylogenetics

Foundations I provides a first introduction to pathogen genomics for anyone in public health. Foundations II then provides learners with a deeper understanding of key molecular biology principles that underpin genomic epidemiology. Together, these courses explain how sequencing data supports surveillance and outbreak response and offer concrete tools to improve collaboration across lab, bioinformatics, and epi teams.

Sequencing Strategies for Pathogen Genomics

Sequencing Strategies for Pathogen Genomics is a one‑hour course designed for public health professionals who use, interpret, or support pathogen genomic data.

This course includes a comparison of common approaches to sequencing library construction, descriptions of how pathogen biology and sample characteristics enable or limit different strategies, and practice evaluating which approach best fits specific public health questions. By the end of the course, learners will be able to justify sequencing strategy choices for routine surveillance, outbreak response, and other investigations, and communicate those decisions clearly across laboratory, bioinformatics, and epidemiology teams.

Learn more and register for all courses today!