The Martin Lüscher Emerging Infectious Diseases (ML-EID) Laboratory is based at the icipe headquarters, Duduville Campus, Kasarani, Nairobi.
The facility, which was inaugurated on 16 September 2011, was constructed with financial support from the Swiss and German governments, and is named after Prof. Martin Lüscher, icipe’s first Research Director who famously coined the term “pheromone” to describe chemicals used for communication between members of the same species.
The ML-EID includes biosafety level 2 and 3 facilities for pathogen culture and high-throughput molecular surveillance, as well as insectaries for controlled experimental studies. These facilities enable icipe to implement research activities on arthropod borne viral (arboviral), parasitic and bacterial diseases in East Africa.
With its infrastructure dedicated to the study of vectored emerging infectious diseases, the ML-EID Laboratory is unique in Africa and has placed icipe on the path towards becoming a centre of excellence in emerging infectious diseases. It also allows the Centre to support other researchers in Kenya and in the East African region to respond to public health emergencies.
Therefore, the ML-EID Laboratory helps to prevent the loss of human lives and the multiple direct and indirect negative impacts on the quality of life caused by emerging infectious diseases, particularly among the poor in Africa.
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