Kenya Research Station

The Kenya Research Station was established in September 2005 at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) in Nairobi, Kenya, with the aim of conducting research and training in tropical medicine in the field. In FY2022, the station's laboratory was significantly upgraded with newly installed research equipment. Since FY2022, the Station has been supporting the JICA technical cooperation project aimed at strengthening the research capacity of KEMRI.

Members

Leader and Professor
Satoshi Kaneko
Professor
Shingo Inoue
Associate Professor
Nobuo Saito
Specific Associate Professor
Raita Tamaki
Assistant Professor
Mayu Hikone
Research Fellow
Kazuchiyo Miyamichi
Assistant
Ryuji Yoshino (Kenya)
Assistant
Yoko Mbugua (Kenya)
Coordinater
Kana Suzuki (Kenya)
Coordinater
Takeshi Sato (Kenya)
Assistant
Ikumi Furitz
Assistant
Yasuko Mukae






Activities

  1. Research activities:
    Major research projects have been conducted based on the station, including the SATREPS project (2012-2017), which aims to develop rapid diagnostic methods and establish an alert system for yellow fever and Rift Valley fever, and the JST/AMED project (2009-2019), which aims to develop multiple serological diagnostics for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). From FY2023, the new SATREPS project "Integrated Research and Development for the Control and Elimination of Schistosomiasis" (PI: Prof. Shinjiro Hamano) will be launched for five years. From 2020 to 2023, as an Asia-Africa Science Platforms of Core-to-Core Program supported by JSPS, the station conducted research activities for the formation of IoT academic centers that contribute to the improvement and enhancement of global health. In addition, joint research with companies (NEC, Eiken Chemical, etc.) and research funded by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) are also actively carried out.
  2. Education and training activities:
    The Station fully cooperates with the JSPS Inter-University Exchange Program "Planetary Health Africa-Japan Strategic and Collaborative Education (PHASE) Program," operated by the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences adopted in FY 2020 and supports student exchange between four educational institutions in Kenya and Nagasaki University.
  3. Social contribution activities:
    The station continues to operate the JICA Grassroots Technical Cooperation Project (Tungiasis Control Project) within Kenya.

Recent main research achievement

  1. Suzuki et al. Methods Protoc 2023;6:12.
  2. Mizuta et al. J Med Chem 2022;65:369-385.
  3. Larson PS et al. Trop Med Health 2022;50:31.
  4. Wandera EA et al. Trop Med Int Health 2022;27:669-677.
  5. Koda et al. International Conference of the Biometrics Special Interest Groop (BIOSIG) 2022;1-6.

Achievement list