How Our Team Helped Launch Mumbai’s First Public Genomic Sequencing Center

When the Delta variant of COVID-19 surged across India in late 2020, Mumbai faced a dangerous gap: it lacked public genomic sequencing capacity. Without it, public health officials couldn’t quickly identify emerging variants—costing precious time in the fight to protect lives.

In response, a team from DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group led by Dr. Mehul Mehta spearheaded a pro bono collaboration with Illumina, the A.T.E. Chandra Foundation, and the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. Together—in just 90 days—we launched the Genome Sequencing Centre for Outbreak Preparedness & Epidemiology (GeSCOPE) at Kasturba Hospital, Mumbai’s infectious diseases public hospital.

GeSCOPE has subsequently become the central epidemiological hub for Mumbai and Western India. Beyond COVID, it now tracks threats like Dengue, Chikungunya, and drug-resistant TB, radically transforming Mumbai’s ability to detect, monitor, and contain infectious disease outbreaks—and ultimately, to protect millions.

This effort was made possible by the vision of the late Secretary Madeleine Albright; the leadership of Dr. Mehul Mehta, Dan Rosenthal, Anthony Cino and others at DGA-ASG; as well as the dedication of our incredible partners at Illumina, A.T.E. Chandra Foundation, and the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. We are proud to have played a role in advancing global public health.

The project has since been published in Frontiers in Public Health, a leading peer-reviewed journal advancing impactful research in global health. Read the full case study here.