Clinical Research

Trials and clinical studies that change treatment guidance

Mildmay Research Centre Uganda (MRCU) runs interventional and observational clinical research on therapeutics, maternal and paediatric HIV, mental health and palliative care. The work runs at a prequalified trials site, supported by an accredited laboratory and a hospital with 14,600 patients in active care.

Place a trial with us Trials site capability

Phase IIIrandomized trial experience

Prequalifiedclinical trials site

ISO 15189laboratory support on site

14,600patients in care for recruitment reach

What this stream covers

Answering questions about treatment, safety and clinical outcomes

Clinical research at MRCU asks what a treatment or clinical intervention does to patient outcomes. It ranges from regulatory-grade randomized trials of antiretroviral regimens through to observational cohorts tracking long-term safety and outcome measurement in paediatric and palliative care.

This work is deliberately kept distinct from our implementation research, which asks a different question: not whether an intervention works, but how to make it reach people at scale.

All studies and projects Clinical publications

Trials, safely runGCP-aligned practice, independent scientific review and on-site ethics review through MUREC.

Focus areas

Where our clinical science concentrates

Therapeutics and ART optimisation

Randomized evaluation of antiretroviral regimens, including safety and efficacy in pregnancy, and long-term outcomes of dolutegravir in children and adolescents.

Maternal and paediatric health

Prevention of mother-to-child transmission, first-line regimen safety in pregnant and breastfeeding women, and paediatric and adolescent HIV care.

Mental health

Depression and its bi-directional relationship with treatment adherence and clinical outcomes, and the integration of mental health into routine HIV care.

Palliative and patient-centred care

Outcome measurement in life-threatening illness, including validation of patient- and child-reported outcome tools.

Clinical studies

Trials and cohorts running at MRCU

EDCTP · Phase III trial

PREGART

A randomized non-inferiority clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of dolutegravir and EFV400 in pregnant and breastfeeding women, generating evidence-based recommendations for safe first-line ART regimens in PMTCT.

THRIVE and ViiV Healthcare

UPART

Long-term outcomes of dolutegravir among children and adolescents living with HIV in Uganda, including point-of-care HIV viral load monitoring to improve viral load suppression in this age group.

Palliative care

GHAP

Piloting Children's Palliative Outcome Scale (C-POS) tools in paediatric life-threatening illness care to improve patient-centred outcome measurement.

Why run a trial here

A site built to take on sponsored clinical work

Sponsors and consortia choose MRCU because the site is prequalified through AfriTrials Connect and the surrounding infrastructure is already operational. Recruitment draws on a hospital population of 14,600 patients in active care. Laboratory work runs through an ISO 15189 accredited facility that also serves as a national backup laboratory. Ethics review happens on site.

Prequalified through AfriTrials Connect, with established start-up documentation
GCP-trained investigators, study coordinators and pharmacy support
Accredited on-site laboratory and biorepository for specimen handling
Independent scientific review before ethics submission
On-site, remote and risk-based monitoring with source data verification

Research infrastructure Ethics and review

Collaboration

Have a clinical protocol looking for a site?

MRCU hosts interventional and observational clinical research across HIV, TB, maternal health, paediatrics, mental health and palliative care.

Work with us