KEMRI is Kenya's national centre of excellence for health research, innovation, and scientific advancement — generating the knowledge that protects Kenyan lives, informs health policy, drives innovation, and positions Africa at the frontier of global health science.
Four decades of research that protects lives, shapes policy, and advances the knowledge that governs health decisions across Kenya and Africa.
Every research question KEMRI pursues is chosen because the answer matters — for Kenya's health, for Africa's scientific sovereignty, and for the global body of knowledge that governs human wellbeing.
KEMRI leads research into malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, neglected tropical diseases, and emerging infections — combining field epidemiology, clinical research, and molecular science to develop better diagnostics, treatments, and prevention strategies.
KEMRI's genomics programs generate African-specific genomic data for disease surveillance, pathogen characterisation, and precision medicine — producing scientific intelligence that the global research community cannot generate without African institutions.
KEMRI's health systems research examines how Kenya's health system can be strengthened to deliver equitable, quality care — generating evidence that directly informs national health policy and the UHC agenda.
As Kenya's epidemiological profile shifts, KEMRI's NCD research addresses cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and mental health — building the evidence base for prevention, early detection, and treatment in African populations.
KEMRI's SRACH research addresses maternal and neonatal health, adolescent sexual and reproductive wellbeing, and child nutrition and development — with a focus on the populations most underrepresented in global health research.
KEMRI's drug development and natural products programs explore Africa's biodiversity as a source of novel therapeutics — building African pharmaceutical innovation capacity and reducing dependence on externally developed medicines.
When a novel respiratory pathogen emerged in a Kenyan county health facility in late 2023, KEMRI's Centre for Virus Research had sequenced and characterised the strain within 72 hours. That rapid genomic intelligence — built on years of surveillance infrastructure investment — allowed the Ministry of Health to deploy a targeted response before the pathogen had spread to adjacent counties.
This is what KEMRI's genomic surveillance programme does: it transforms Kenya's disease intelligence capacity from retrospective detection into real-time scientific foresight. Working across Kenya's counties and in collaboration with Africa CDC, the programme sequences circulating pathogens, tracks emerging variants, and generates the evidence that national and continental health authorities need to stay ahead of outbreaks rather than merely respond to them.
The nations that lead in health — that detect outbreaks early, that develop their own treatments, that train their own scientists — are the nations that invest in their national research institutions. KEMRI is Kenya's answer to that imperative: the institution that ensures Kenya generates its own knowledge, trains its own scientists, and contributes its own evidence to the decisions that govern African health.
KEMRI National Presence
Research centres and field stations across Kenya
KEMRI actively seeks the funders, partners, scientists, and industry collaborators who share our commitment to advancing health through science. Whatever your organisation's role in the health ecosystem, there is a partnership pathway designed for you.
Support KEMRI's research portfolio and join a community of world-class funders whose investment is producing measurable health outcomes across Kenya and Africa. Funding KEMRI is funding impact at national and continental scale.
Explore Funding Partnership →For universities and research institutions seeking co-investigation, shared infrastructure, and joint scientific programs. KEMRI's field capacity, national reach, and ethics infrastructure make it an unmatched collaborative partner.
Explore Academic Collaboration →For pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, and diagnostics manufacturers seeking clinical research services, translational science, licensing pathways, and commercialisation opportunities in East Africa.
Explore Industry Partnership →For government bodies and development partners seeking formal advisory relationships grounded in KEMRI's research outputs. Kenya's most credible evidence partner for health governance and policy decision-making.
Explore Policy Engagement →"At KEMRI, the questions I ask every morning are the questions on which Kenyan lives depend. That is not a responsibility I take lightly — it is the reason I returned from my postdoc in London and the reason I am still here fifteen years later."
Dr. Wambua leads KEMRI's malaria transmission dynamics research in western Kenya, combining field epidemiology with genomic characterisation to understand how Plasmodium falciparum is evolving in response to artemisinin combination therapies. Her work directly informs Kenya's national malaria treatment guidelines.
KEMRI is home to over 4,000 scientists, researchers, and public health professionals working on Kenya's most important health questions. We are building the next generation of African scientific leadership — and we are looking for the scientists, students, and specialists who want to be part of it.
Our laboratories, diagnostics work, biotechnology programmes, and drug development research represent a pipeline of innovation assets available for partnership, licensing, and commercialisation — aligned with a public health purpose that makes KEMRI a uniquely credible innovation partner.
A novel diagnostic platform developed through KEMRI's malaria research programme, enabling rapid, accurate species-level identification of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax in resource-limited settings without the need for electricity or cold chain logistics.
A deployable genomic sequencing and analysis system designed for field use in Kenya's counties, enabling real-time pathogen surveillance without requiring samples to be transported to central laboratory facilities.
A proprietary library of bioactive compounds derived from Kenya's medicinal plant biodiversity, screened against panels of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens to identify novel lead compounds for antibiotic development.
Explore KEMRI's full innovation portfolio — including clinical research services, licensing opportunities, and industry partnership models — in our dedicated Innovation section.
Recent research, partnerships, and scientific intelligence from Kenya's national health research institution.
KEMRI's Centre for Virus Research has been designated as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Respiratory Pathogen Genomic Surveillance, formalising Kenya's role in the global early-warning system for pandemic-potential pathogens.
KEMRI's NCD research programme provided the epidemiological evidence base for Kenya's updated National Cancer Control Strategy, including incidence projections for breast, cervical, and prostate cancers through 2030.
A new Memorandum of Understanding between KEMRI and the Nairobi County Department of Health will embed KEMRI researchers in county health facilities to conduct real-world health systems research across Nairobi's diverse populations.
We are not finished. The questions facing Kenya, Africa, and the world demand more — more science, more innovation, more partnership, more courage. KEMRI is ready. And we are looking for the funders, partners, scientists, and allies who are ready with us.