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Purpose & Workflows

The PHB repository contains workflows for the characterization, genomic epidemiology, and sharing of pathogen genomes of public health concern. Workflows are available for viruses, bacteria, and fungi.

All workflows in the PHB repository end with _PHB in order to differentiate them from earlier versions and from the original tools they incorporate.

Our Open Source Philosophy

PHB source code is publicly available on GitHub and available under GNU Affero General Public License v3.0!

All workflows can be imported directly to Terra via the Dockstore PHB collection!

You can also use our workflows on the command-line. Please see our guide on how to get started here!

Our Workflows

Analysis Approaches for Genomic Data

We have a number of workflows available to help you perform genomic analysis. Take a look below to learn how our workflows are related and how they cooperate with each other.

The relationship between the various PHB workflows

This diagram shows the available workflows in the PHB repository. The workflows are grouped in boxes that represent what type of analysis they perform. The arrows between the boxes and the large underlying arrow represent the directional and sequential nature of the workflows.

All available standalone workflows can be used to supplement the major workflows

This diagram shows all standalone workflows in the PHB repository that are available for genomic analysis. Workflows are grouped by colors that represent the type of analysis they perform. These workflows can be used independently of the major workflow groupings as either supplements or alternatives.

PHB development is a cycle

We continuously work to improve our workflows, so changes are expected between versions. Select the version you are using in the header to see the relevant documentation.

Contributing to the PHB Repository

We warmly welcome contributions to this repository! Our code style guide may be found here for convenience of formatting and our documentation style guide may be found here.

If you would like to make suggested code changes to our workflows, submit pull requests to the PHB GitHub repository.

You can expect a careful review of every PR and recieve feedback as needed before merging, just like we do for PRs submitted by the Theiagen team. Our PR template can help prepare you for the review process. As always, reach out with any questions! We love recieving feedback and contributions from the community. When your PR is merged, we'll add your name to the contributors list below!

Authorship & Responsibility

Authorship

(Ordered by contribution [# of lines changed] as of 2026-05-06)

  • Sage Wright (@sage-wright) - Conceptualization, Software, Validation, Documentation, Supervision
  • Inês Mendes (@cimendes) - Software, Validation, Documentation
  • Curtis Kapsak (@kapsakcj) - Conceptualization, Software, Validation, Documentation
  • Zachary Konkel (@xonq) - Software, Validation, Documentation
  • Theron James (@MrTheronJ) - Software, Validation, Documentation
  • Andrew Hale (@awh082834) - Software, Validation, Documentation
  • Michal Babinski (@Michal-Babins) - Software, Validation, Documentation
  • Michelle Scribner (@michellescribner) - Software, Validation, Documentation
  • Kevin Libuit (@kevinlibuit) - Conceptualization, Project Administration, Software, Validation, Supervision
  • Andrew Lang (@AndrewLangVt) - Software, Supervision
  • Kelsey Kropp (@kelseykropp) - Documentation
  • Sushmita Sridhar (@ss43) - Documentation
  • Neha Mokashi (@nehavm456) - Documentation
  • Deborah Young (@theiadeb) - Documentation
  • Bruna Todani (@brunatodani) - Documentation
  • Joel Sevinsky (@sevinsky) - Conceptualization, Project Administration, Supervision

External Contributors

We would like to gratefully acknowledge the following individuals from the public health community for their contributions to the PHB repository:

* Former member of Theiagen

On the Shoulder of Giants

The PHB repository would not be possible without its predecessors. We would like to acknowledge the following repositories, individuals, and contributors for their influence on the development of these workflows:

The PHB repository originated from collaborative work with Andrew Lang, PhD & his Genomic Analysis WDL workflows. The workflows and task development were influenced by The Broad's Viral Pipes repository. The TheiaCoV workflows for viral genomic characterization were influenced by UPHL's Cecret & StaPH-B's Monroe (now deprecated) workflows. The TheiaProk workflows for bacterial genomic characterization were influenced by Robert Petit's bactopia. Most importantly, the PHB user community drove the development of these workflows and we are grateful for their feedback and contributions.

If you would like to provide feedback, please raise a GitHub issue or contact us at support@theiagen.com.

Maintaining PHB Pipelines

Theiagen Genomics has committed to maintaining these workflows for the forseeable future. These workflows are written using a standard workflow language (WDL) and uses Docker images based on the StaPH-B Docker Builds. New versions that include bug fixes and additional features are released on a quarterly bases, with urgent bug fixes released as needed. Each version is accompanied by detailed release notes to lower the barrier of pipeline upkeep from the public health community at large.

Point of Contact

If you have any questions or concerns, please raise a GitHub issue or email Theiagen's general support at support@theiagen.com.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Citation

Please cite this paper if publishing work using any workflows:

Libuit, Kevin G., Emma L. Doughty, James R. Otieno, Frank Ambrosio, Curtis J. Kapsak, Emily A. Smith, Sage M. Wright, et al. 2023. "Accelerating Bioinformatics Implementation in Public Health." Microbial Genomics 9 (7). https://doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.001051.

Please cite this paper if using the TheiaEuk workflow:

Ambrosio, Frank, Michelle Scribner, Sage Wright, James Otieno, Emma Doughty, Andrew Gorzalski, Danielle Siao, et al. 2023. "TheiaEuk: A Species-Agnostic Bioinformatics Workflow for Fungal Genomic Characterization." Frontiers in Public Health 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1198213.

About Theiagen

Theiagen develops bioinformatics solutions for public health labs, and then trains and supports scientists to use these. If you would like to work with Theiagen, please get in contact.