General information

The Centre for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Control Research (CIPDCR) is one of the 12 centers of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). It was established in 1947 as the Alupe leprosarium hospital when the government of Kenya set up a hospital for this purpose in Alupe. The mandates of the Alupe leprosarium included:

Management of leprosy as a referral centre for this disease in East Africa

Research on leprosy and other skin diseases

The first director East Africa Leprosy Research Centre was Dr. James Ross Ines. He served between January 1954 and January 1957. He previously acted as the inter-territorial leprologist between June 1947 and December 1953. The second Director of the East Africa Leprosy Research Centre was Dr. John Michael Baring Garred he served between January 1957 and January 1963. The third director was Dr. Charles McConachy Ross who served between January 1963 and 24th June 1964. The fourth director was Dr. Yona Otsyula who served between 1964 and 1977. The fifth director, Dr. Malachi Dundu Owili who served between 1977 and 1983, replaced him. The sixth director was Dr. Patrick Orege who served between 1983 and 1998. He was succeeded by Dr. Nicholas Ikol Adungo who served between September 1998 and September 2008. The eighth and current director is Dr. Matilu Mwau.

In 1979, the East Africa Leprosy Research Centre was taken over by KEMRI following the breakup of the East African Community. Its name was changed to the Alupe Leprosy and Skin Disease Research Centre its mandate was appropriately expanded to foster research that field.

In 2000, the centre's name changed to Centre for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Control Research (CIPDCR). Its mandate was expanded to include: