Malaria Research and Training Centre

 Malaria Research and Training Centre (MRTC)
Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy,
University of Sciences and Techniques and Technologies
Website : http://www.usttb.edu.ml

Description of the Malaria Research and Training Center -Parasitology Section (MRTC-P) at the University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako (USTTB)

MRTC was initiated in 1992, within the Department of Epidemiology and Parasitic Diseases (DEAP), a research and training structure of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, at the University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako (USTTB) focused on understanding, collecting, and sharing data on parasitic diseases. MRTC was initially a collaborative effort between the staff of the Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy and Dentistry (FMPOS) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA, with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation and the WHO. Significant support was then obtained from several USAID programs, including the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID – NIH). The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) continue to support programs at the Centre.

The center is strongly supported by the government of Mali. It offers a successful organizational model, where work is top quality, includes cutting-edge research, is grounded in African needs and realities, is connected with local communities and health care

systems, and is directed and executed by Malian staff, networking and communicating with scientific counterparts worldwide.
The MRTC is constituted of central and peripheral structures. The central component in Bamako is structured in Research and Training (RTU) composed of laboratories and each RTU is headed by a Professor or an associate Professor. The MRTC is involved in all aspects of research on malaria, but more specifically directed to the reduction of the burden of disease in the people of Mali, the region, and all of Africa. The MRTC serves as the primary research and training arm of the Ministry of Health for malaria. It maintains field sites in all regions of Mali. The main field sites are in Bandiagara, Donéguébougou, Bancoumana, Sotuba, Kalifabougou, Ouelessebougou and Sikasso. Others smaller field sites are established throughout the country covering the breadth of malaria transmission patterns in Mali. Since 2003, the MRTC teams conducted more than thirty clinical trials of malaria vaccine and drugs including phase 1, phase 2 and large efficacy studies.

The MRTC headquarters in Bamako is now a large campus of several buildings with laboratories, various storage facilities, Data Management facilities (hard copy and electronic supports), and a guest house. Its research scope includes malaria epidemiology, entomology, drug resistance, the development of vaccines, drugs and diagnostic tools, molecular epidemiology, genomics and proteomics, pathogenesis, malaria during pregnancy, geographic information systems, and remote sensing. Malaria vaccine development and testing have constituted a major component of the MRTC's scientific mission since 2003, with an active program on transmission-blocking vaccine development, monoclonal antibody assays against malaria, state-of-the-art clinical and immunology laboratory facilities, and multiple clinical trial sites. The center has organized and hosted many international training courses sponsored by the FIC, the MacArthur Foundation, the World Health Organization, and the International Atomic Energy Agency, on topics including epidemiology, entomology, malariology, bioethics, and molecular assays for drug-resistant malaria. Good Clinical Practices (GCP) courses have been held at the MRTC annually since 2001.

With more than 650 published papers in peer-reviewed journals including the most prestigious such as Nature, Science, New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, and PLoS, the MRTC stands today as an example of a success story in building African-owned research centers.

In 2002, the University of Bamako Faculty of Medicine was designated one of three International Centers of Excellence in Research (ICER) by NIH, based primarily on the scientific accomplishments of the MRTC. The ICER offers core support to all MRTC activities In 2003, the MRTC was awarded “Pole Regional d’Excellence” from the Francophone Agency for Universities; the award made MRTC a Regional Center of Excellence for providing high-quality training and research opportunities to French-speaking scientists in West Africa.

Overall, the MRTC has created an enabling environment for research and training in Mali.
MRTC has developed some components, the Emerging Disease Unit and NTDs unit based mostly on schistosomiasis dedicated to understanding the epidemiology, pathogenesis, and public health impact of emerging viral fevers diseases and NTDs with new parasites forms implicated in schistosomiasis transmission (Hybrid form).

MRTC’s infrastructures have been renovated in 2020 with new laboratories, with state-of-the-art equipment, a fully equipped data center, and to acquire an Illumina sequencer and MALDI-Tof mass spectrometer.

MRTC has established a network of partnerships with universities, hospitals, and public health institutions, research institutions in Mali, Africa, Asia, Europe, and in America.