Mildmay Research Centre Uganda
Mildmay Research Centre Uganda (MRCU) is a research centre within the Mildmay Uganda Group. We generate evidence through clinical trials, implementation research and innovation. Our work is supported by a hospital caring for 14,600 patients, an ISO 15189 accredited laboratory, a prequalified clinical trials site, a biorepository, a population surveillance cohort and our own research ethics committee.
What we do
From a first proposal through to a validated product, MRCU covers the full arc of applied health research.
Rigorous applied research designed to answer questions that national programmes and global guidance actually act on.
Interventional studies at a prequalified trials site, with GCP-aligned practice and accredited laboratory support.
Named studies such as PREGART, UPART, GOALS, INMIND, GHAP and TEST4TPT, run end to end on site.
Independent validation of diagnostics, devices and digital tools in an accredited laboratory and in routine service settings.
Independent evaluation of programmes, tools and interventions for implementers, developers and funders.
Proposal development, budgeting, contracting, financial routing, compliance and donor reporting across the grant lifecycle.
Masters and postdoctoral fellowships, MicroResearch training, manuscript workshops and structured mentorship.
Digital health and AI tools moved from prototype to validated product through the TRANSPIRE translation pathway.
Research infrastructure
Most research sites offer one or two of these. MRCU offers all of them, on one campus, under one governance framework: a defined population under disease surveillance, a large hospital population for recruitment, a prequalified trials site, an accredited laboratory trusted as a national backup, a biorepository, and more than two decades of linked clinical data.
For a research team, that means a study can be designed, reviewed, approved, recruited, tested, analysed and published without assembling infrastructure from scratch.
Research
Each answers a different question, and each is run by teams with the right methods for it.
Does this treatment work, and is it safe? Trials and clinical studies in therapeutics, maternal and paediatric health, mental health and palliative care.
How does it reach people at scale? Behavioural science, health systems, public health and epidemic response, economics and evaluation.
Can it become a usable product? Digital health and AI, diagnostic validation and translation through TRANSPIRE.
Ethics and scientific review
Slow or unavailable ethics review stalls good research across the region. MRCU hosts MUREC, an accredited research ethics committee, on site. Alongside it sits an independent Scientific Advisory Committee that assesses design, methods and feasibility before a protocol reaches ethics.
Both operate outside the management line, and both are open to investigators bringing protocols to MRCU.
Featured studies
Person-centred TB prevention through skin testing, AI-assisted reading and community delivery across Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda.
A randomized non-inferiority trial of dolutegravir and EFV400 in pregnant and breastfeeding women, informing safe first-line ART in PMTCT.
Turning selected health research prototypes into validated, scalable tools, including LiverAI and AI NutriCare.
Work with us
Host a study, join a protocol, or access our data and specimens.
Place a trial at a prequalified site with audited grants management.
Validate a diagnostic, device or digital tool in a real health system.
Join as a Masters or postdoctoral fellow with mentorship and data.
News, Events and Announcements
Research milestones, publications, events and partnership developments.
The Uganda National Council for Science and Technology held a training for members of the Mildmay Uganda Research Ethics Committee and researchers at MRCU, covering national research regulation, committee practice and the standards expected of accredited ethics committees.
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A practical model from Mildmay Hospital Uganda demonstrates how routine health services can absorb epidemic response functions in resource-limited settings.
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Research on TB care campaigns across central Uganda highlights how community-level mobilisation can improve prevention, screening and linkage to care.
Read morePartners
We work with leading academic institutions, funders, government ministries and research organisations worldwide.
Mildmay Group
MRCU is one of four entities in the Mildmay Uganda Group. The non-governmental organisation runs community and health systems programmes, the hospital provides the clinical platform our studies recruit from, and the institute trains the health workers our studies depend on.
The non-governmental organisation at the centre of the group. Its programmes span disease prevention and management, health systems strengthening, global health security, disability programming and household livelihoods, and have reached more than 10 million beneficiaries.
A 24-hour multidisciplinary hospital at Lweza on Entebbe Road with over 20 specialised clinics, an ISO 15189 accredited laboratory and ISO 9001 certified quality management. It is the clinical platform behind our research.
Certificate, diploma and degree programmes in nursing, midwifery, allied health and applied sciences. It is registered by the National Council for Higher Education, the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Council and the Allied Health Professionals Council.
The applied health research arm of the group. MRCU runs clinical research, implementation research and innovation, and hosts the ethics committee, laboratory, biorepository and data systems described across this site.
Work with MRCU
We host clinical trials, implementation research, innovation projects and secondary analyses. We also help partners get the funding and approvals to run them.
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