Mali-University Clinical Research Center (UCRC)

The UCRC is an initiative between the Malian Ministry of Health (MoH), the Ministry of Higher Education, University of Science, Technology and Technology of Bamako (USTTB) and NIAID. The purpose of the collaboration is to facilitate clinical research in Mali. The UCRC vision is to become an international clinical research center of excellence in West Africa. Its mission is to improve the quality of healthcare nationally, regionally, and globally by facilitating excellent clinical research at international standards, strengthening research capacity and providing training.

NIAID has had a longstanding partnership with the USTTB. In 2013 the Malian MoH, recognizing this and the role of the partnership in establishing the country’s first biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) laboratory in 2006, approached NIAID to request continued support for clinical research. The UCRC houses state of the art laboratory infrastructure led by experts. The laboratories include: the Immunocore, the Molecular and Genomics, the BSL-3, the Clinical Laboratory, and a Biorepository with liquid nitrogen storage. The Immunocore includes infrastructure to support studies on humoral and cellular immunity including cutting edge flow cytometers and cell sorting. The newly renovated Molecular and Genomics laboratory includes PCR equipment and multiple sequencing platforms supporting pathogen discovery. The Molecular and Genomics works closely with the UCRC bioinformatician. The BSL-3 is one of two BSL-3 certified laboratories in Mali, capable of handling TB and samples from patients with unknown etiology. The Clinical Laboratory contains equipment essential for clinical laboratory measurements that support clinical studies and trials. The complete UCRC research infrastructure includes core research capabilities and staff in support of scientific research, operations, data management, biorepository, pharmacy, sequencing, and diagnostic testing.

Main Areas of Focus

Develop and maintain the UCRC as a sustainable entity capable of conducting excellent clinical research.
Facilitate the training and development of the next generation of clinical research scientists and professionals.
Generate knowledge, disseminate research results, and promote the utilization of findings.

Clinical Studies

Measles West Africa 01 (NCT06153979): An ongoing observational study investigating the effects of measles virus (MeV) infection on pre-existing immunity, vaccine response, and susceptibility to subsequent illness in children aged 1-15 with or without acute MeV infection.

InVITE (NCT02876328A): 2021-2024 multinational study of COVID-19 vaccine immunogenicity and durability that enrolled 800 adults at three sites in UCRC, Yirimardio, Taliko.

FLU003+ and Genomics/INSIGHT004: 2021-2023 International Observational Study to characterize adults hospitalized for influenza or other targeted respiratory viruses that enrolled 28 participants from Mali.

PREVAC (NCT02876328): A 2017-2023 randomized placebo-controlled study to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of three vaccine strategies that may prevent Ebola virus disease events in children and adults that enrolled 292 adults and 326 children in Mali.

D²EFT (NCT03017872): A 2019-2023 multinational study that included 13 randomized adults with HIV seen at UCRC.

ECERID 2020-2022 Epidemiology and Clinical Characteristics of Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases (ECERID) in Mali. A prospective observational study of adult and pediatric patients with unknown febrile illness from an emerging or re-emerging infectious disease that enrolled 105 participants.