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Unfortunately, undergraduate training in Kenya does not prepare students for specialization in bioinformatics. Graduates are often unaware of the career opportunities in bioinformatics, and those who are may lack mentors to help them choose a specialization. The Bioinformatics Mentorship and Incubation Program seeks to bridge the gap by laying the foundation for a bioinformatics training pipeline using project-based learning. The program selects six participants through an intensive open recruitment exercise for highly competitive students to join the program for four months. The six interns undergo intensive training within the first one and a half months before being assigned to mini-projects. We track the progress of the interns weekly through code review sessions and a final presentation at the end of the four months. We have trained five cohorts, most of whom have secured master\u2019s scholarships within and outside the country and job opportunities. We demonstrate the benefit of structured mentorship using project-based learning in filling the training gap after undergraduate programs to generate well-trained bioinformaticians who are competitive in graduate programs and bioinformatics jobs.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pcbi.1010904","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,2]],"date-time":"2023-03-02T18:25:06Z","timestamp":1677781506000},"page":"e1010904","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pcbi.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["A mentorship and incubation program using project-based learning to build a professional bioinformatics pipeline in Kenya"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"Ruth","family":"Nanjala","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Festus","family":"Nyasimi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Daniel","family":"Masiga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0312-4282","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Caleb Kipkurui","family":"Kibet","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,2]]},"reference":[{"issue":"6822","key":"pcbi.1010904.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"860","DOI":"10.1038\/35057062","article-title":"Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome","volume":"409","author":"ES Lander","year":"2001","journal-title":"Nature"},{"issue":"2","key":"pcbi.1010904.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"355","DOI":"10.1093\/bib\/bbu022","article-title":"Bioinformatics education-perspectives and challenges out of Africa","volume":"16","author":"\u00d6T Bishop","year":"2015","journal-title":"Brief Bioinform"},{"issue":"6","key":"pcbi.1010904.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0196878","article-title":"Bioinformatics core competencies for undergraduate life sciences education","volume":"13","author":"MA Wilson Sayres","year":"2018","journal-title":"PLoS ONE"},{"issue":"2","key":"pcbi.1010904.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"719","DOI":"10.1093\/bib\/bbz004","article-title":"Delivering blended bioinformatics training in resource-limited settings: A case study on the University of Khartoum H3ABioNet node","volume":"21","author":"AE Ahmed","year":"2020","journal-title":"Brief Bioinform"},{"issue":"2","key":"pcbi.1010904.ref005","first-page":"1","article-title":"Using a multiple-delivery-mode training approach to develop local capacity and infrastructure for advanced bioinformatics in Africa.","volume":"17","author":"V Ras","year":"2021","journal-title":"PLoS Comput Biol"},{"issue":"2","key":"pcbi.1010904.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"271","DOI":"10.1101\/gr.196295.115","article-title":"H3ABioNet, a sustainable pan-African bioinformatics network for human heredity and health in Africa","volume":"26","author":"NJ Mulder","year":"2016","journal-title":"Genome Res"},{"issue":"1","key":"pcbi.1010904.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1093\/bib\/bbab399","article-title":"Bioinformatics mentorship in a resource limited setting","volume":"23","author":"D Jjingo","year":"2022","journal-title":"Brief Bioinform"},{"issue":"4","key":"pcbi.1010904.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"680","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jafrearsci.2010.08.010","article-title":"Short note: The track of a new cradle of mankind in Sahelo-Saharan Africa (Chad, Libya, Egypt, Cameroon)","volume":"58","author":"M. 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