KEMRI | Wellcome Trust

We will develop a major scientific theme on vaccines including Phase I, II and III trials and post-licensing evaluations. Our aim is to contribute to the clinical development and evaluation of vaccines that improve global health. We will accelerate progression through early testing by undertaking first-in-human studies in Kenya, providing critical immunogenicity and efficacy data to support licensing and inform health policy with post-vaccination evaluations of effectiveness.

Our objectives are to use genomic tools to describe the transmission of infectious disease to inform infectious outbreak control policy and to provide an immediate view of the evolution of resistance to host immunity and drug pressure.

Our work is aimed at answering questions of immediate translational importance, focusing on inpatient care of sick children and neonates. To achieve this, we operate a “pipeline” approach with progression through investigation of pathophysiology and early phase clinical trials in preparation for larger trials and multi-centre trials to influence policy.

Under this theme we aim to understand the changing epidemiology of malaria, understand the determinants of health transitions and vulnerabilities at fine scales, and to embed the use of data for decision-making by national ministries.

Well-functioning health systems are essential to the delivery of a diverse range of current and future health interventions. Our aim is to conduct studies describing means of improving the quality, efficiency and accessibility of health care through studies on health care financing, governance, management, human resources, health information and community perspectives and practice. This theme brings together a multidisciplinary group including clinicians, anthropologists, economists, ethicists, and policy analysts. Our strategy is to conduct both high quality, high impact stand-alone health policy and systems studies, as well as to feed into and value add to multi-disciplinary disease specific studies being conducted across the Programme.