Building links with Rwanda

Imperial strengthens connections with Rwanda following President Kagame's recent visit to College

By Natasha Martineau
Friday 11 December 2009

Imperial's partnership with Rwanda moves one step forward as College's global health research community prepares to welcome leaders of Rwandan research organisations to London on 17th December. Rectors from four Rwandan research and higher education institutes are coming to the UK to meet with Imperial researchers, identify areas for potential collaboration, and explore ways to develop joint applications to international research funding initiatives.

The Rwandan delegation includes the rectors and representatives of the National University of Rwanda, Rwanda's School of Public Health, the Kigali Health Institute and the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology. They will be meeting UK research funders and Imperial scientists working in areas such as surgical robotics, maternal and child health, solar energy and biofuels, water and sanitation, bioengineering, and chronic and infectious diseases.

The partnership builds on Imperial's existing two-way research and education links with Rwanda. These include the partnership in maternal and child health with the university teaching hospitals in Kigali and Butare, in conjunction with the Rwandan Ministry of Health. Led by consultant neonatologist Dr Tom Lissauer, the work includes teaching and training in newborn care and paediatrics, and providing monitoring equipment. The plan is to expand the number of hospitals participating in the partnership, to introduce the Emergency Triage and Treatment of Sick Newborns and Children Course, and to initiate collaborative research projects.

Another link is the e:quinox project, in which Imperial students from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering have built a pilot solar charging station in Rwanda, to provide cost-effective, robust and renewable energy to rural communities.

Tona Isibo, an MRes plant scientist from the Rwandan National Agricultural Research Institute

Finally, existing links between Imperial and Rwanda also include Rwandan students who come to study at Imperial. For example, Tona Isibo is an MRes plant scientist from the Rwandan National Agricultural Research Institute, who is studying at Imperial as a British Council Chevening scholar. Her current research project involves understanding more about the hormones that cause plants to put out shoots.

The work has important applications for crops such as maize and rice, where branching can have a significant effect on yield. "My work in Rwanda is all about ways of using biotechnology techniques to improve crops, especially those of high value," Tona explains. "One of the plant hormones I am working on at Imperial was only discovered last year. It's called strigolactone, and has got a lot of people excited. If we can understand how it functions in plants, it could have interesting implications for agricultural and horticultural crops. Although the MRes only lasts for a year, it provides me with a great opportunity to learn new research techniques that I can then use to address agricultural production issues in Rwanda."

The Imperial - Rwanda partnership was formalised at the start of November 2009 when Rwandan President Paul Kagame visited College to formalise a commitment for educational and scientific cooperation. The partnership aims to help Rwanda in developing its skills base, and offer Imperial opportunities for research, knowledge transfer, training and staff development.

Professor Peter Piot visiting a dental training ward in Rwanda

"This is Imperial's first collaboration at an institutional level in Africa," says Professor Peter Piot, Director of the Institute for Global Health, which has been instrumental in setting up the collaboration. "Global health is just one of the areas that this partnership will address. Solutions lie in combining medical research with expertise in engineering, natural sciences and business skills. Rwanda and Imperial share many interests in these areas, so working together will provide an exciting opportunity for us both to benefit."