To improve women’s health research on the continent, the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) has announced a Ksh516 million flagship initiative.
The institute announced that LEA-WH, a three-year program financed by the Gates Foundation, will begin in January 2026.
The project’s goal, according to KEMRI Director General Elijah Songok, is to enable scientists, researchers, and innovators to investigate ways to improve women’s health problems, which are still poorly understood and underfunded on the continent.
“The LEA-WH Programme represents KEMRI’s continued commitment to building scientific leadership that is inclusive, innovative, and African-led. By empowering scientists to lead groundbreaking research and innovation, we are investing in the future of Africa’s health and development,” Songok said.
“The three-year flagship Programme will strengthen Africa’s research leadership in women’s health by equipping and mentoring a new generation of African scientists, researchers, and innovators to develop groundbreaking, locally driven solutions to health challenges that disproportionately affect women,” he stated.
The initiative is to facilitate five to ten patent applications, offer up to ten medical innovations for market testing, and support up to ten startup businesses by 2033.
According to the institute, the program also intends to mobilize up to Ksh600 million in follow-on funding and provide research grants to up to 50% of the program scholars.
To encourage evidence-based decision-making, the initiative will also create a continental alumni network, a sustainable replication model, and an innovative policy ecosystem, according to the release.
“A yearly ScienceX Africa Summit will provide a forum for cooperation, coaching, and information sharing between up-and-coming and seasoned experts in health innovation. To carry out this Fellowship, the Program will collaborate closely with the US National Academy of Medicine,” it continued.
The news was made a few weeks after the Ministry of Health opened an expanded Polio Laboratory at KEMRI’s Centre for Virus Research (CVR) that would be utilized for surveillance and diagnosis of polio in Comoros, Somalia, Djibouti, and Eritrea.
The lab will also be utilized for genome sequencing amid possible illness outbreaks of other diseases, such as Mpox, measles, rubella, and enteric viruses, according to Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, who spoke at the lab’s debut on Tuesday, September 16.
The World Health Organization (WHO), eHealth Africa, and the Gates Foundation supported the lab’s creation.
“This lab is one of its kind in our region because it will help us reduce our reliance on external labs in other countries, such as South Africa, where the tests used to be sent,” Duale stated.
