We hosted 153 students for the Annual School Leavers Attachment Scheme (SLAS) Open Day.  The SLAS open day targets top performing students in Kilifi to give them an opportunity to information from various stakeholders and scientists that would help them firm up or redefine their career aspirations. It is an opportunity to give the students […]

Over the past 10 years, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Schools Engagement Programme (SEP) has been engaging local schools with the aim of raising students’ awareness of leading African science; to stimulate students’ interest in pursuing careers in science https://sep.kemri-wellcome.org/. This aims at promoting an interest in science through interactions between researchers, students, and teachers. Dr. Tabitha Mwangi, a […]

Coastal Kenya has witnessed recurrent outbreaks of various viral pathogens, including dengue, measles, norovirus, influenza, and SARS-CoV-2. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the origin, transmission patterns, and the distribution of these outbreaks. While Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) is being incorporated into public health surveillance globally, with the potential to make significant contributions to enhance outbreak […]

It is a bittersweet moment for the KWTRP family as we make changes to our Leadership team. After 10 years of tremendous growth and change in the Programme. Prof Philip Bejon officially steps down as the KWTRP Programme Executive Director. As the Director of the Programme, Philip has led us in successfully securing 2 rounds […]

We engaged experts in infectious disease surveillance to help identify pathogens that should be prioritized for serosurveillance in Kenya. A carefully selected group of respondents were invited to participate in multiple rounds of consensus building engagement activities until a final list of fifteen pathogens was generated. Read more about the deliberations of the consultative workshop […]

We held a 2-day consultative meeting with our Media Advisory Group (MAG) on promoting public awareness in genome sequencing. The team shared valuable insights on how to develop engagement tools that can be used to build public understanding of genome sequencing and its impact on public health. The MAG also joined community members where we […]

Celebrating World Pneumonia Day 2023 We commemorate World pneumonia Day on the 12th of November annually, a reminder that Pneumonia remains a preventable and curable disease. Despite substantial progress over recent decades, much remains to be done. WHO estimates that pneumonia affects approximately 450 million people per year globally. In 2019, Pneumonia claimed the lives […]

The KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP) convened stakeholders for a follow-up session on data access and use for public health planning and decision-making. This forum focused on discussing pathways to implementing priority recommendations generated during the first consultative workshop. The priority recommendations and additional information on data access and use for public health planning […]

In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, country surveillance focal persons and members of academia, the KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP) team worked on developing a consensus list of ranked pathogens to be prioritized for surveillance in Kenya.