Kenyan Scientist Prof. Kariuki Njenga to Oversee Establishment of US-Funded Research Centre

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) is set to put up a Sh1.8 billion research center for emerging diseases such as Covid-19 in Kenya.

Kenyan virology professor Kariuki Njenga has been tasked to oversee the establishment of the Centre for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases—East and Central Africa (Creid-Eca). The facility will research viruses such as the Rift Valley Fever and the coronavirus. 

Prof. Kariuki is a senior researcher at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) and a professor at Washington State University in the US.

The project will be funded by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Niaid), which is part NIH.

Niaid director Dr. Anthony Fauci said studies carried out by the Kariuki-led center will help increase the world’s preparedness for future outbreaks.

“The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic serves as a potent reminder of the devastation that can be wrought when a new virus infects humans for the first time … the Creid network will enable early warnings of emerging diseases wherever they occur, which will be critical to rapid responses,” Dr. Fauci said.

Prof. Kariuki and his team are also expected to “develop reagents and diagnostic assays to improve detection of emerging pathogens and study human immune responses to new or emerging infectious agents.”

Prof. Kariuki was last year inducted into the National Academy of Sciences in the US for his contribution to human medicine.