Description
How CRUN was founded
“We are involved in the health research venture”
It all started with Dr Tinto, Pharmacist by background, who worked from 1995 to 1999 in Centre Muraz in Burkina Faso as Research Associate, where he completed his Postgraduate training Diploma in Biochemistry & Applied Microbiology in 1998. The focus research was on malaria drug resistance and the development of alternative medicine against malaria from 1999 to 2000.
After joining the “Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (IRSS)” in Burkina Faso in 2001, he completed a PhD training in Medical Sciences at ITM in Belgium, on the epidemiology of malaria drug resistance in Burkina Faso and the mechanism of the resistance in Rwanda.
After founding the Clinical Research Unit of Nanoro (CRUN) with the aim to foster Africa contribution to malaria control and elimination through clinical research, Dr Tinto career took an important turn in 2009. The center was located at 85 Km from Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso in West Africa. Its research activities were implemented within the Nanoro health district which covers population of 188,837 inhabitants.
Dr Tinto was appointed Research Director in Parasitology and Associate Professor at Nazi Boni University in Burkina Faso in 2016. He has authored and co-authored more than 200 articles published in peer-reviewed journals and is member of several experts’ groups of institutions such as the WHO, EDCTP, the EU, WWARN.
CRUN expertise
“We are at the forefront of drugs and vaccines trials in Africa”
A decade after its creation, CRUN has developed a multidisciplinary research platform with over 300 staff and is conducting clinical trials compliant with ICH/GCP standards. CRUN participated in the world premier RTS,S malaria vaccine candidate phase 3 trial, and also the ongoing the R21 phase 3 trial in collaboration with the University of Oxford.
CRUN has also developed a Health and Demographic Surveillance System which delivers a well characterized health and continues demographic data for approximately 70,000 inhabitants since 2009 [1, 2].
CRUN is committed toward the application of research ethics and equity in clinical trials. Therefore, the center has developed a strong Social Sciences and Community Engagement Unit, to ensure a fair, profitable and sustainable interaction between researchers and the communities before, during, and after the completion of research projects.
CRUN impact on local population health
“We generate data to improve human health”
The CRUN leadership in providing solutions to national health challenges and its impact on the local community well-being is remarkable [3]. CRUN has completed over 50 clinical trials, 4 large community-based interventions, 9 biomedical research projects and over 40 training sessions during the 12 years of its existence.
In addition to its research activities, CRUN is strongly committed in training highly qualified human resources. Thanks to a fruitful collaboration with academic institutions worldwide and pharmaceutical companies, CRUN has created a stimulating environment for research students and scientists. This resulted in 11 PhD completed, and other ongoing 4 PhD and 16 Master trainings. CRUN researchers also contribute as experts and advisors in several national disease control programs as well as international bodies such as WHO, and EDCTP.
In order to maintain high quality research and training capability, and also to offer suitable solutions to the ever-changing health challenges, CRUN envision to:
- Expand its research portfolio to include emerging infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases as well,
- Upgrade its research platform with next generation sequencing equipment for genomic research
- Establish a Biobank to facilitate complex biomedical research
- Derra K et al. International Journal of Epidemiology, 2012; 41(5):1293-301. doi: 10.1093/ije/dys159
- Noori N et al. BMC Public Health, 2021; 21(1):1425. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-11483-4
- Tinto H et al. Malaria Journal, 2014; 13:113. doi: 10.1186/1475-2875-13-113