$2 million grant from The Roe Green Foundation catalyzes multidisciplinary research building in Uganda
In 1986, the HIV/AIDS epidemic was raging across the globe, but infection rates were by far the highest in Africa.
Uganda’s minister of health at the time, Ruhakana Rugunda, invited Nobel Laureate Frederick C. Robbins, MD, to help address the crisis.
A celebrated virologist, Robbins had played a critical role in developing the polio vaccine and was a distinguished professor emeritus at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, where he served as dean from 1966 to 1980.
The invitation led to the establishment of the Uganda-Case Western Reserve University Research Collaboration (UCRC) and, eventually, Africa’s first HIV/AIDS vaccine clinical trial.
Since UCRC’s founding, its researchers have produced more than 350 peer-reviewed collaborative publications and over 400 scientific abstracts across disciplines, with research awards exceeding $252 million to date.
Yet even with these advancements, facilities for the collaboration have remained scattered across the campuses of its partners in Kampala, Uganda—until now.
A $2 million gift from The Roe Green Foundation will establish a state-of-the-art research hub and medical training facility: the Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Roe Green Medical Education and Research Building.
The gift is jointly awarded to CWRU and University Hospitals (UH), which has been involved in the collaboration since the beginning.
Kampala partners include Makerere University, the Ministry of Health, the Joint Clinical Research Centre, Uganda Heart Institute, Uganda Cancer Institute and Mulago Hospital, which donated the land plot for the upcoming construction. Collaboration across these institutions has been instrumental to the success of the UCRC, particularly as the scope of the enterprise has broadened far beyond its initial focus to include studies in epidemiology, biomedical sciences and engineering, cancer, and cardiac disease, among many others.
With support from philanthropist and world traveler Roe Green, the collaborative will have a central facility in which to conduct research, meetings, training and medical care.
“My home is Cleveland, but I am a citizen of the world,” shared Green. “I hope this new facility in Uganda can be a beacon to others and show what can be achieved when we join in a common cause.”
Green has long supported both UH and CWRU, but this is her first joint donation to the institutions.
“This generous gift is transformative for our work in Uganda, and a meaningful development in Case Western Reserve’s decades-long relationship with University Hospitals,” said CWRU President Eric W. Kaler. “Having a central location for this vital work will elevate our existing projects and allow us to take on more challenges.”
Originally published in the summer 2024 issue of Forward Thinking magazine