The research portfolio of the Unit spans basic scientific research (immunology, microbiology, virology and molecular biology), clinical studies, large epidemiological studies and intervention trials. The field and laboratory-based work draws on excellent research and clinical facilities and attracts international funding.
The Unit has an established staff complement of about 200 scientists, clinicians and senior administrative staff from many parts of the world, as well as hosting many visiting researchers, and over 500 support staff. There are field sites upcountry – Basse, Keneba and Walikunda (in The Gambia) and Caio (in Guinea Bissau) - each in a different ecological setting, providing varied research opportunities.
OUR VISION
To be a global leader in scientific research, contributing to the development, testing and safe adoption of interventions aimed at reducing the burden of morbidity and mortality from infectious disease in the developing world.
OUR MISSION
- To develop a cost-effective centre of excellence for scientific research, focusing resources and energy on core competencies and areas of comparative competitive advantage
- To consistently attract/develop a team of international calibre scientific researchers and partners able to propose, implement and publish quality science relevant to the Unit’s vision
- To develop and strengthen our relationships in The Gambia and the sub-region towards capacity building and partnership in the implementation of internationally competitive research on issues of immediate local priority
- To ensure that the Unit’s scale and breadth is matched by its capacity to manage processes, people and resources effectively towards its vision and objectives.
Medical Research Council (UK) The Gambia: A brief chronology
| 1945 | The Gambia first mentioned in MRC reports, when staff were appointed to a Nutritional Field Working Party to undertake studies in a rural area of The Gambia in conjunction with the Human Nutrition Research Unit in London.
| | 1947 | Nutrition Working Party established at Genieri in the Central River Division, under the leadership of Dr W T C Berry.
| | 1948 | Lieutenant Colonel Dr J Walters appointed Resident Director in The Gambia. | | 1949 | Dr Ian McGregor recruited to study the relationship between parasitism and nutrition; in the same year, Keneba Field Station was established. | | 1953 | Following recommendations, the laboratories were converted to a research establishment of wider scope administered directly by MRC UK Council. Dr John Newsome appointed Director.
| | 1954 | Dr I McGregor appointed Director. | | 1956 | The Trachoma Group transferred from Jordan to The Gambia. | | 1964 | The role of antibodies in protection against malaria established (McGregor & Cohen); the effect of malaria on birth weight and child growth also established (McGregor) | | 1973 | MRC Dunn Nutrition Unit relocated from Uganda to Keneba.
| | 1974 | Dr Bray appointed Director. | | 1978 | Dr I Mc Gregor appointed Director. | | 1980 | Dr Brian Greenwood appointed Director; a new programme of work established with an emphasis on intervention studies against malaria, schistosomiasis and hepatitis. | | 1980 | Scientific direction of the Keneba Unit taken over by the main MRC Dunn Nutrition Unit in Cambridge. | | 1982 | Basse field site established; it was initially a focus for studies on schistosomiasis, which had a high prevalence rate in the area and its environs. | | 1983 | Farafenni field site established; it was chosen as a suitable site for community studies on the prevention of malaria | | 1986 | Commencement of the Gambia Hepatitis Intervention Study. | | 1986 | Chloroquine resistance demonstrated in studies in the Farafenni area. | | 1986 | HIV research programme started. | | 1988 | Caio field site established to undertake a long term study of the epidemiology of HIV 2 infection. (Caio was given full MRC field site status in 2006.)
| | 1988 | Discovery by Sarah Rowland-Jones and colleagues in The Gambia and Oxford that some heavily exposed commercial sex workers are resistant to HIV infection. | | 1995 | Established that insecticide treated bednets decrease overall mortality in children aged 1 to 9 years by 25%. | | 1995 | Professor Keith McAdam appointed Director. | | 2004 | Appointment of a Unit Executive Management Board: Professor Tumani Corrah - Unit Director, Professor Sarah Rowland-Jones – Director of Research; Mr Mark Radford – Director of Operations. |
| 2004 |
‘Flies and Eyes’ study findings published (Role of flies and provision of latrines in trachoma control: cluster-randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2004 Apr 3;363(9415):1093-8 |
| 2005 | Successful completion of the Pneumococcal Vaccine Trial in Basse. | | 2005 | Elimination of Hib in The Gambia, following the incorporation of the vaccine into The Gambia’s Extended Programme of Immunization (EPI) ; findings published in The Lancet. |
| 2008 |
Findings on investigation into dramatic decline in malaria prevalence in The Gambia published in The Lancet Changes in malaria indices between 1999 and 2007 in The Gambia: a retrospective analysis.
Ceesay SJ, Casals-Pascual C, Erskine J, Anya SE, Duah NO, Fulford AJ, Sesay SS, Abubakar I, Dunyo S, Sey O, Palmer A, Fofana M, Corrah T, Bojang KA, Whittle HC, Greenwood BM, Conway DJ. |
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