Renowned malaria researchers Prof. Dyann Wirth (Harvard University) and Prof. Abdoulaye Djimde (University of Science, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako, Mali) honored CRID with a visit. Yaoundé. March 8th. 9:30 am. Visitors arrived at the CRID research facility located in the Nkoulou district.
“It’s a real pleasure for us this morning to welcome two giants of malaria research from around the world. It’s not every day that we welcome researchers of this calibre. Welcome,” said Prof Charles Wondji, Executive Director of CRID.
Our visitors were warmly welcomed by all staff in the CRID’s amphitheater. This was followed by for a brief introduction by the Executive Director. His presentation addressed the key questions: What is CRID? What does CRID do? How does CRID contribute to the fight against disease?
Established in 2017, CRID is a non-profit organization dedicated to combating infectious diseases. Our primary focus lies in vector-borne diseases, arboviral diseases, and sleeping sicknesses. Through high-quality research and capacity-building initiatives, CRID strives to save lives and empower Africa in the fight against infectious and tropical diseases. Key message from the director.
We’re currently focusing on malaria, where we’re looking at the biology, genetics and genomes of mosquito vectors to develop better control strategies. This includes looking into how the malaria parasites can resist the drugs we use to treat them, how mosquitoes become infected, and how the disease is transmitted from person to person. When it comes to arboviral diseases like dengue and zika, our research looks at the risk factors for these diseases in Africa, ways to control Aedes populations, how insecticides can lead to resistance, and the genomics of the arboviruses themselves, among other things. In his presentation, Prof Charles Wondji let PhD students, post-docs and CRID researchers working on malaria-related issues give a quick overview of their work. He also let the various principal investigators take the stage to present their research. To wrap up, he gave a full rundown of CRID’s current and future projects, thanking their funding partners for their invaluable support…Following this presentation, the floor was opened to the visitors. They were impressed and enthusiastic about the breadth of research being conducted in Cameroon, particularly at CRID. They commended Professor Wondji for his outstanding work in advancing research and the fight against tropical diseases in Africa. Following their insightful discussions, our visitors embarked on a guided tour led by the Executive Director himself. They explored CRID’s facilities, including the state-of-the-art insectarium and various specialized laboratories…
