The Institut National de la Recherche Biomédicale (INRB) is the national medical research organization of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. The responsible ministry is the
Ministry of Scientific Research and Technology The Ministry of Scientific Research and Technology is the science and technology ministry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. , the minister for science and technology was Evariste Heva Muakasa.
The Ministry of Science and Technology is the ...
.
The National Biomedical Research Institute (INRB) was founded in 1984, it is a 70,000 m² establishment. It has been a collaborating center of the
World Health Organization since 2018, headed by Professor
Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum
Jean-Jacques Muyembe is a Congolese microbiologist. He is the general director of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Institut National pour la Recherche Biomedicale (''INRB''). He was part of team at the Yambuku Catholic Mission Hospital that ...
, MD, Ph., Which serves as a national biomedical research laboratory for the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) ). It is a multidisciplinary institute which collectively has hundreds of years of experience both in the identification, treatment and prevention of diseases in the DRC. Its foundations are the performance of medical and biological analyzes, applied and translational research, the surveillance of communicable diseases and the promotion of professional growth and development. The INRB has continuously developed and trained quality researchers and produced exceptional results, more recently concrete efforts in terms of control, prevention and research in the context of the current Ebola epidemic.
He has continuously brought his expertise to the government of the DRC in the area of disease surveillance, prevention and intervention. In 30 years of existence, the INRB has quickly become recognized worldwide and has played an essential role in tropical health research.
The establishment is a modern type structured research institute composed of six laboratories dedicated to Virology, Parasitology, Bacteriology, Medical Entomology, Clinical Biology and Pathology, including a Research Center on animals and a data center. Each laboratory is made up of a dedicated director and staff, including both students and international collaborators. Each laboratory has the basic equipment and the space necessary for optimal research. It is available to faculty, students, post-docs and staff from the periphery of the INRB. Due to the structure of the INRB if sharing and access to individual laboratory equipment is required, access is granted at the request and approval of the directors of these laboratories. The INRB common area includes some major equipment. All collaborators and researchers have, upon request, several -80 freezers, liquid nitrogen tanks, centrifuges, water baths, tissue homogenizers, vortexes, incubators, agitators; and all laboratories have access to
cold chain equipment such as dry shippers and portable freezers.
The INRB was founded in 1984,
and has been a
World Health Organization collaborating centre World Health Organization collaborating centres are institutions that work with the World Health Organization (WHO) in disciplines such as occupational health, food safety, and communicable disease prevention. There are over 700 such centres across ...
since 2018. The INRB and the World Health Organization have worked closely together in research into the effectiveness of the
ring vaccination strategy in the
2018 Kivu Ebola outbreak
The Kivu Ebola epidemic was an outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) that ravaged the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in Central Africa from 2018 to 2020. Between 1 August 2018 and 25 June 2020 it resulted in 3,470 reported cases ...
.
The National Biomedical Research Institute (INRB) has eight dynamic departments within it which participate in the various missions of the Institute, namely, monitoring, research and training. The departments work in inter-collaboration on several research themes. Each department has qualified staff and state-of-the-art infrastructure.
Below is the list of the institute's departments:
* Pathology Laboratory,
* Clinical Biology Laboratory,
* Virology Laboratory,
* Parasitology Laboratory,
* clinical microbiology Laboratory,
* The immunology unit,
* The data center and
* The administration.
The INRB is based at Avenue de la Démocratie (formerly the Avenue des Huileries), BP 1197 in
Kinshasa-Gombe
Gombe or La Gombe is a municipality (''commune'') in the Lukunga district of Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was formerly known as Kalina, after Lieutenant E. Kallina - an Austro-Hungarian soldier who volun ...
, DRC.
References
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Medical research institutes
Research institutes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Medical and health organisations based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
World Health Organization collaborating centres
1984 establishments in Africa
National public health agencies