King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center

The Metagenomics and Microbiome Section at the Center for Genomic Medicine (CGM), KFSHRC, is developing as a regional reference center for Oxford Nanopore Technologies-based microbial genomics and metagenomics in the Middle East. Activities are currently conducted within a research framework to generate evidence supporting future clinical validation and implementation of sequencing-based infectious disease diagnostics. Our program operates alongside standard clinical microbiology to evaluate metagenomic sequencing for pathogen detection in complex, culture-negative, and undiagnosed infections. The section supports research in infectious diseases, pathogen genomic characterisation, antimicrobial resistance analysis, outbreak investigation, and infection prevention and control surveillance. We provide integrated wet-lab sequencing and bioinformatics analysis, generating research reports and genomic insights into pathogen identification, transmission dynamics, and outbreak containment. These activities support the advancement of precision infectious disease diagnostics, microbial discovery, and translational research.