The Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) is a medical research institute owned by the

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

government that carries out research on communicable diseases in man and animals, with emphasis on viral transmitted infections. UVRI is a component of Uganda National Health Research Organization (UNHRO), an umbrella organization for health research within Uganda.

Location

UVRI is located at 51-59 Nakiwogo Road, in

Entebbe Entebbe is a city in Central Uganda. Located on a Lake Victoria peninsula, approximately southwest of the Ugandan capital city, Kampala. Entebbe was once the seat of government for the Protectorate of Uganda prior to independence, in 1962. T ...

, approximately , south of

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

, the capital and largest city in Uganda. The coordinates of the institute are: 0°04'33.0"N, 32°27'26.0"E (Latitude:0.075833; Longitude:32.457222).

Overview

The organisation was established in 1936 as the Yellow Fever Research Institute by the Rockefeller Foundation. In 1947, scientists researching

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...

placed a

rhesus macaque The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies that are split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally ...

in a cage in the Zika Forest. The monkey developed a fever, and researchers isolated from its serum a transmissible agent that was first described as

Zika virus ''Zika virus'' (ZIKV; pronounced or ) is a member of the virus family ''Flaviviridae''. It is spread by daytime-active '' Aedes'' mosquitoes, such as '' A. aegypti'' and '' A. albopictus''. Its name comes from the Ziika Forest of Uganda, w ...

in 1952. Other noteworthy

arbovirus Arbovirus is an informal name for any virus that is transmitted by arthropod vectors. The term ''arbovirus'' is a portmanteau word (''ar''thropod-''bo''rne ''virus''). ''Tibovirus'' (''ti''ck-''bo''rne ''virus'') is sometimes used to more sp ...

es discovered at the institute include

Chikungunya virus Chikungunya is an infection caused by the ''Chikungunya virus'' (CHIKV). Symptoms include fever and joint pains. These typically occur two to twelve days after exposure. Other symptoms may include headache, muscle pain, joint swelling, and a ra ...

West Nile virus West Nile virus (WNV) is a single-stranded RNA virus that causes West Nile fever. It is a member of the family '' Flaviviridae'', from the genus '' Flavivirus'', which also contains the Zika virus, dengue virus, and yellow fever virus. The v ...

, Bwamba virus,

Semliki Forest virus The Semliki Forest virus is an alphavirus found in central, eastern, and southern Africa. It was first isolated from mosquitoes in the Semliki Forest, Uganda by the Uganda Virus Research Institute in 1942 and described by Smithburn and Haddow. ...

O'nyong'nyong virus The o'nyong'nyong virus (ONNV) was first isolated by researchers at the Uganda Virus Research Institute in Entebbe, Uganda, during a large outbreak of a disease in 1959 that resembled dengue fever. ONNV is a togavirus (family Togaviridae), genu ...

, and Kadam virus. In 1950, after gaining regional recognition, the institute was renamed the East African Virus Research Institute, under which identity many of its noteworthy accomplishments were published. In 1977, it was reorganized under its current name.

Organization

After the collapse of the

East African Community The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation composed of seven countries in the Great Lakes region of East Africa: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republics of Kenya, Burun ...

in 1977, it became a Ugandan government

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

research institution and was renamed the Uganda Virus Research Institute. The government of Uganda administers and funds the UVRI through the ''Uganda National Health Research Organization'', which is an umbrella research body within the

Uganda Ministry of Health The Ministry of Health is a cabinet-level government ministry of Uganda. It is responsible for planning, delivering, and maintaining an efficient and effective healthcare delivery system, including preventive, curative, and rehabilitative service ...

. The mission of UVRI is to carry out scientific research concerning

communicable diseases An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dis ...

, especially viral diseases of public health importance, and to advise the government on strategies for control and prevention. UVRI also plays a large role in coordinating and administering

virology Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, th ...

clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, diet ...

s within the country. Most recently, UVRI has been involved in human

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

vaccine A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified.

clinical trials. The HIV/AIDS Reference and Quality Assurance Laboratory, which is part of UVRI, plays an important role in making public policy recommendations to the National Food and Drug Authority on the access and usage of new drugs and

medical technologies Health technology is defined by the World Health Organization as the "application of organized knowledge and skills in the form of devices, medicines, vaccines, procedures, and systems developed to solve a health problem and improve quality of liv ...

. UVRI maintains a field station at the Zika Forest near Entebbe.

Administration

The institute is divided into the following departments and units. ; Departments (1) The Office of the Director (Head of Programs and Partnerships). The director is responsible for providing leadership to the research community. He/She reports directly to the UVRI Advisory Board (UAB). (2) The Office of the Deputy Director (Chief Research Officer (CRO). The CRO is responsible for coordinating all the research being undertaken by the scientific departments in the institute. The CRO deputizes the director as the need arises. (3) Department of Finance and Administration. This department is responsible for administration, accounting, payroll, transport, security, human resources management, logistics, legal affairs, storage and community awareness programs. (4) Department of Ecology and Zoology. This department carries out research on the animals and insects that carry pathogens which cause diseases in humans. These include monkeys, rodents, ticks, bats, and others. (5) Department of General Virology.he Department of General Virology is headed by an assistant director. It conducts comprehensive research at a molecular and cellular level for different viral-borne diseases. This is the department that conducts research related to viruses associated with human cancers, including HHV8, HPV16, HPV18,

Epstein–Barr virus The Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), formally called ''Human gammaherpesvirus 4'', is one of the nine known human herpesvirus types in the herpes family, and is one of the most common viruses in humans. EBV is a double-stranded DNA virus. It is b ...

and others. (6) Department of Entomology and Vector Biology. The department focuses on the study of insect vectors in the transmission of arbo-virus infections, and the study of other arthropods connected with other diseases of public health importance such as the vectors of malaria. (7) Department of Immunology. This department focuses on the comprehensive study of how the human body protects itself against infection. The department specializes into two areas, (a) the study of cellular and humoral immunity and (b) the practice of diagnosis and surveillance of viral and vector-borne diseases. (8) Department of Arbovirology (Emerging and Re-Emerging). This department serves as a national and international reference centre in the field and laboratory research and epidemic aid investigations of vector-borne viral infections and their arthropod vectors. (9) Department of Planning and Fund Raising. This department is responsible for drawing up annual and five-year institutional funding plans and programs. It also coordinates national funding with donor funding from international collaborators and donor agencies. The department also carries out active lobbying and fundraising, both nationally and internationally. Human resource planning and forecasting, budgetting, report-writing and dissemination, are some of the activities that occur here. ; Specialized units The specialized units include the following: (1) Epidemiology Unit, responsible for investigation of epidemic outbreaks, particularity in the areas of HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, malaria and acute viral outbreaks. The unit provides statistical an epidemiology support to the entire institute. (2) Immunisable Diseases Unit, carries out surveillance and research on diseases that are preventable with vaccines. Functions as a regional measles reference laboratory for the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...

. (3) Clinical Research Unit, conducts applied research on viral infectious diseases. The unit also offers basic clinical services to staff and the immediate family members in a healthcare centre, supervised by Entebbe General Hospital. (4) Quality Assurance Unit, is responsible for setting standards, monitoring, evaluation of clinical and operational research. It is mandated to develop and review quality assurance and inspection procedures. (5) Internal Audit Unit, because of its constitutional mandate and direct linkage with the Auditor general's office, this unit reports directly to the director of UVRI. (6) Information Technology & Corporate Affairs Unit, is responsible for collecting, collating and dissemination of information in a manner that promotes ethics, specificity, professionalism, and timeliness to promote effective beneficial use of that information. (7) International Relations & Training Unit, is responsible for training and capacity building among UVRI staff, particularly the scientists. The unit arranges and coordinates national, regional and international participation of UVRI in all health research-related matters. Interacts with governments, development partners,

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

s and international philanthropic bodies on scientific and technical matters related to health and scientific funding, training and disease control.

References

External links

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Uganda Ministry of Health: UVRI

{{authority control Medical research institutes in Uganda 1936 establishments in Uganda Zika virus Entebbe Wakiso District Research institutes established in 1936