Infectious Disease Institute at Makerere University

What Infectious Disease Institute at Makerere University does

The Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) at Makerere University is a non-profit research and capacity-building organisation founded in 2001 in Kampala, Uganda, that operates across six integrated programme areas: Prevention, Care and Treatment; Training and Capacity Development; Research; Laboratory Services; Global Health Security; and Health Systems Strengthening. It runs on a grant-funded model with an annual budget of approximately US$68 million drawn from 151 active research grants, primarily from the US CDC, NIH, Gates Foundation, EDCTP, Wellcome Trust, and USAID, and serves patient populations, district health systems, and government ministries across 92% of Uganda's districts and 23 African countries. Its clinical footprint includes the Adult Infectious Diseases Clinic at Mulago Hospital (7,000+ HIV patients), the Kalangala Clinical Research Centre on Lake Victoria, and the Kasangati research site for PrEP trials, supported by a CAP-certified Core Lab and a Translational Research Laboratory focused on TB, HIV, and cryptococcal meningitis diagnostics.

IDI's technology stack combines specialised laboratory infrastructure (ELISA-based TB testing, point-of-care diagnostics, precision liquid chromatography for pharmacokinetics) with a Statistical and Data Management Unit whose DataFax system has processed nearly 2 million records from 70+ clinical studies. The institute is increasingly layering AI onto this foundation: ACE-Uganda, an NIH-supported bioinformatics centre hosted at IDI, partnered with Google DeepMind in 2025 to provide researchers access to AlphaFold and AlphaMissense for proteomics and AMR research, with VR-based protein visualisation. In 2026, IDI co-launched CARE-AFRICA, a €4.8m EU EDCTP3-funded AI tool for rapid paediatric diarrhoeal diagnosis, and was selected by WHO AFRO and Africa CDC to host the Joint Continental Incident Management Support Team. Distribution occurs through direct clinical service delivery, professional training (eLearning platform with 8,000+ registered health workers from 188 countries, in-person courses at the McKinnell Knowledge Centre), medical drone delivery to Kalangala's island communities, and embedded partnerships with Uganda's Ministry of Health and Makerere University, where IDI invests 5% of internal savings annually into host-institution infrastructure.

Name

Infectious Disease Institute at Makerere University

Legal name

The Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI), College of Health Science, Makerere University

Website

https://idi.mak.ac.ug

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

The Infectious Diseases Institute at Makerere University is a Ugandan non-profit research institute founded in 2001 that delivers infectious disease prevention, care, training, and laboratory services across 92% of Uganda's districts and 23 African countries, operating on roughly US$68 million in annual grant funding.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Infectious Disease Research and Health Systems Strengthening

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories (6215)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Medical Laboratories (8071), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Health Security, Pandemic Preparedness & Response (IHR, EID) (BPADAIAH)

Keywords

• Infectious disease research
• HIV/AIDS treatment programs
• Healthcare capacity building
• Clinical research services
• Global health security

Headquarters

HQ city

Kampala

HQ country

Uganda

HQ region

Africa

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Research Grants and Donor Funding: IDI operates primarily as a grant-funded research institute, receiving funding from international donors including US CDC, NIH, Gates Foundation, EDCTP, Wellcome Trust, and other global health funders. The annual budget is approximately US$68 million across 151 active research grants.
2. Training and Capacity Development: IDI generates revenue through professional training courses in HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria management, laboratory services, clinical pharmacology, data management, monitoring/evaluation, and grants management. Course fees range from UGX 1,000,000 (USD 278) for professional programs.
3. Clinical Services and Laboratory Testing: IDI generates revenue through its Adult Infectious Diseases Clinic at Mulago Hospital serving over 7,000 HIV-infected patients, and its CAP-certified laboratory offering diagnostic and testing services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Infectious Disease Institute (IDI) at Makerere University is a non-profit research and health services organization that tackles infectious diseases through six integrated operational areas: Prevention, Care and Treatment; Training and Capacity Development; Research; Laboratory Services; Global Health Security; and Health Systems Strengthening. It delivers clinical care (including HIV, TB, and malaria treatment to over 7,000 patients), runs grant-funded research across 151 active grants (annual budget ~US$68 million), and operates specialized platforms such as a CAP-certified laboratory, a medical drone delivery service, an eLearning platform, and the ACE-Uganda AI bioinformatics platform in partnership with Google DeepMind.

Product overview

The Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) at Makerere University is a national non-profit dedicated to protecting African communities from infectious diseases. IDI operates through six integrated operational areas: Prevention, Care and Treatment; Training and Capacity Development; Research; Laboratory Services (including CAP-certified IDI Core Lab and Translational Lab); Global Health Security; and Health Systems Strengthening. The institute provides a comprehensive portfolio including clinical care services operating across 92% of Uganda's districts, professional training programmes through eLearning and distance learning platforms, translational and clinical research with 151 active grants, the Advanced Treatment Information Centre for treatment guidance, medical drone delivery services for remote communities, and the DREAMS HIV prevention programme for adolescent girls and young women. Research infrastructure includes the Kalangala Clinical Research Centre, ACE-Uganda AI research platform, multiple clinical research sites, and the Statistical and Data Management Unit with DataFax capabilities. Training offerings span ISO 15189 laboratory standards, GIS, integrated data solutions (ODK/Power BI), clinical skills, and specialized courses in HIV, TB, malaria, antimicrobial stewardship, and outbreak preparedness.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• African Centre of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Data-Intensive Sciences (ACE): A consortium of research and training centres facilitated by NIH, providing researchers with mentoring, computer resources, and laboratory tools for modern biomedical research.
• Kasangati Site
• IDI Science Fair
• DREAMS Programme

Products and services

• Prevention, Care and Treatment Programme
• Training and Capacity Development Programme
• Research Programme
• Laboratory Services
• Global Health Security Programme
• Health Systems Strengthening Programme
• eLearning Platform
• Advanced Treatment Information Centre (ATIC)
• Medical Drones Research Project
• ACE-Uganda AI Research Platform
• DREAMS Programme
• ISO 15189:2012 Requirements Training Course
• GIS Training Course
• Integrated Data Solutions Training Course (ODK and Power BI)
• Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision Surgical Skills Training
• CARE-AFRICA AI Diagnostic Tool
• Joint Continental Incident Management Support Team (IMST) Platform

Quantifiable outcome

• 20% of national HIV coverage managed through IDI facilities
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• WHO AFRO and Africa CDCcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 June 2026WHO AFRO and Africa CDC, together with Uganda's Ministry of Health, launched Joint Continental Incident Management Support Team (IMST) hosted at IDI to coordinate response to Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak. Platform supports operational planning, surveillance, case management, and resource deployment across 10 priority countries.
• King's College LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 April 2026CARE-AFRICA research project led by King's College London, funded by EU Global Health EDCTP3 programme at €4.8m. IDI is one of six partners from Uganda, Ethiopia, South Africa, UK, Italy, and Spain building AI tool for rapid diarrhoeal infection diagnosis in children.
• Google DeepMindcoreTechnology or Integration · 25 September 2025ACE-Uganda and Google DeepMind partnership provides scientists from Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania access to world-class AI tools including AlphaFold and AlphaMissense for proteomics and structural biology research. Partnership includes hands-on workshops, four-day scientific competition, mentorship program, and collaborative VR visualization platform for protein structures.
• Makerere UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIDI is hosted at Makerere University College of Health Sciences. IDI invests 5% of internal savings annually into Makerere infrastructure, including $104 million renovation of Research Support Centre. Multi-country grant to establish similar research hubs in Zimbabwe and Uganda.
• Ministry of Health UgandacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIDI collaborates with MoH on national programs including HIV/AIDS care and treatment, TB management, malaria, AMR surveillance, border health, emergency preparedness, immunization (Second Year of Life vaccination), and IPC guidelines.
• UCSF (University of California San Francisco)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-term international research collaboration. UCSF-GIVI CFAR provided financial support for Translational Research Laboratory expansion in 2014. Joint faculty appointments and fellowship programs.
• Johns Hopkins UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-term international research collaboration with JHU researchers and faculty.
• East African Health Research CommissioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEAHRC coordinates and disseminates results for SCALE-IT project (clinical trial capacity in EAC) implemented by consortium of researchers from six EAC partner states.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Ifakara Health Institute: Tanzania-based health research institute focused on infectious disease surveillance, malaria, and health systems with similar grant-dependent funding model and East African Ministry of Health partnerships.
• Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI): Kenya's national medical research institute operating CAP-equivalent laboratories, HIV/TB/malaria research programmes, and a network of regional research centres. Most direct African counterpart to IDI in mandate, funding mix, and operating model.
• Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ): Zambian non-profit infectious disease research organization with PEPFAR-funded HIV programmes, clinical trials infrastructure, and laboratory services. Closest operational peer in HIV care-and-treatment scale and donor mix.
• South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC): South Africa's statutory medical research council with intramural and extramural research programmes, intramural laboratories, and a similar grant-funded operating model. Comparable scale and donor diversification profile.
• Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (University of Ghana): University-affiliated infectious disease research institute in West Africa with similar HIV/TB/parasitic disease focus, donor-funded model, and training programmes. Direct structural peer as a university-hosted research institute.

Broad incumbents

• Institut Pasteur: Global infectious disease research network with 32 institutes including Institut Pasteur de Dakar, operating reference laboratories, outbreak response, and training programmes. Overlaps with IDI in laboratory and outbreak-response functions but at much larger global scale.
• London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM): Global leader in infectious disease and public health research with extensive African research collaborations including partnerships with IDI's faculty. Comparable research output and training functions but operating at a different governance and funding scale.

Regional players

• Rwanda Biomedical Centre: Rwanda's national biomedical research and reference laboratory body with HIV, TB, and outbreak response mandates. Comparable government-embedded research model but distinct governance structure.
• African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC): Nairobi-based African-led research institute generating population health evidence with similar grant diversification strategy and policy translation mandate. Broader demographic focus but comparable operational footprint.
• Botswana-Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership: Harvard-affiliated HIV research institute in Botswana with similar clinical research, training, and laboratory infrastructure model, but narrower geographic and disease focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights1 record

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/IDIMakerere
• Facebookfacebook.com/IDIMakerereUniversity
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/infectious-diseases-institute-idi-

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Infectious Disease Institute at Makerere University