Within the Centre d’Infectiologie Charles Mérieux, the Rodolphe Mérieux Laboratory has the infrastructure and equipment to truly make it an applied research unit, carrying out research projects as part of the GABRIEL Network.
Since the end of 2010, the Rodolphe Mérieux Laboratory, in association with the Department of Pediatrics of the Gabriel Touré Hospital in Bamako, has been participating in the study of pneumonia.
The centre is involved in other research studies:
- Prevention of perinatal transmission of Hepatitis B virus in Bamako: This project is done in collaboration with the ministry of health, and the CHU Gabriel Touré. The project aims to assess the transmission rate of hepatitis B virus from infected mother to child during delivery, and how to prevent this transmission. Samples will be collected within the Bamako district and analysed at the Rodolphe Mérieux Laboratory.
- Research on tuberculosis: The activities include routine diagnosis of pulmonary and extra pulmonary tuberculosis, antituberculous drug susceptibility, and genotyping of multidrug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex.
- Research on multidrug resistant bacteria (ESBLs): Samples from genitourinary tract, blood cultures, cerebro spinal fluid, etc…. are examined for the presence of multidrug resistant strains of bacteria, especially the enterobacteriacae.
Collaborations
In partnership with the government of Mali and the Fondation Christophe and Rodolphe Mérieux, Fondation Mérieux has enabled the local scientific and medical community to benefit from a quality tool in biological diagnostics.
The Centre participates in the West African Laboratory Network's (RESAOLAB) activities, which are financed by AFD and Fondation Mérieux and involve three countries: Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal.