In developing countries, where medical institutions are not well established, many infants die from the exacerbation of infectious diseases. Through Nagasaki University’s Institute of Tropical Medicine, which conducts collaborative research on rotavirus gastroenteritis, we donated lab equipment to the institute’s Nairobi Research Station laboratory. Further, as part of our development of next-generation human resources, we hired as research interns young Kenyans who aspire to be researchers and engaged them in the work of collecting samples and data at the medical facility and conducting experiments in the lab.

The Nairobi Research Station is located on the premises of the Kenya Medical Research Institute, and is a P2/P3 level facility with molecular biology and pest laboratories. A total of seven administrative teams and 50 staff members including collaborators are on the research team and are active in area fields where epidemiological research is conducted. Although the joint research with MTPC was completed in March 2021, the Nairobi Research Station will continue to study tropical infectious diseases and public health peculiar to Africa to address various medical issues not only in Kenya but also in Sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, we are developing entry-level human resources through the African Business Education for Youth and the JICA Project for Infectious Disease Control Human Resources Development together with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).