Welcome to the Workshop

Get to know your instructors and neighbours, set expectations for the day, install the software, and get excited.

Bioinformatics, AI and Data Science — 16–17 July 2026 W. T. Choga, Ph.D. (UB), MSc(Med) UCT, Hons (NUST)

Dr. Wonderful T. Choga holds a PhD in Medical Sciences (Pandemic Response) from the University of Botswana and a Master of Science in Medicine (Human Genetics) from the University of Cape Town. He is the Head of the Bioinformatics Unit, Senior Bioinformatician, and Postdoctoral Research Scientist in Medical Virology at the Botswana Harvard Health Partnership (BHP), and serves as an Adjunct Lecturer in Medical Virology and Bioinformatics at the University of Zimbabwe and Senior Lecturer in Bioinformatics at the National University of Science and Technology (Zimbabwe).

A recipient of the Harvard Global Health Institute Fellowship and the Rockefeller Foundation–Africa CDC Public Health Fellowship, his research integrates artificial intelligence, pathogen genomics, phylogenomics, and genomic surveillance to advance precision public health across Africa.

Dr. Choga has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed publications, received over 3,500 citations (H-index: 13), and is passionate about mentoring the next generation of African scientists in genomics, bioinformatics, AI, and data science.

Slides

Open slides full screen

Goals for this session

  • Get to know your instructors and neighbours
  • Set expectations for the day
  • Install the software
  • Join our AI groups
  • Get excited

Workshop materials

Everything for these two days lives at:

github.com/wtchoga/bioinformatics-series-botswana

Discussions

Ask questions in #workshop-questions on Discord:

Join the Discord channel

Tip“I’m stuck and frustrated”

Say so — early and out loud. If you are stuck, someone near you almost certainly is too. Getting unstuck quickly is the whole point of having instructors and TAs in the room.

Introductions

Take 10 seconds to introduce yourself. Please share:

  • Your name
  • Where you work
  • Your current go-to method for analysing data

Let’s make this workshop work for all

ImportantYou belong here

This workshop is intended for a wide audience with a focus on beginners. If you feel out of place — you are not. Everyone in this room was a beginner at something recently, including the people teaching.

Let’s take a poll

www.menti.com/al8fjkaovx38

Pre-workshop survey

Complete the PreAssessment

Practicalities

WiFi

Network Password
Dedicated internet (use this one) BHP BHP@2026
Hotel guest WiFi Cresta Guest guest@1960#
TipUse the BHP network

The dedicated line will be faster and more reliable than the hotel guest WiFi, especially with the whole room downloading packages at once. Fall back to Cresta Guest only if you cannot connect.

The content of this workshop

We have created modules as well as interactive activities. There may be too much material to get through in the time we have — that is deliberate. The materials stay online, so you can finish anything we do not reach.

Next: Machine Learning session.