Virology institute establishes research centre in Abuja

The Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) has established an international medical research centre in Abuja.

The building of the centre called International Research Centre of Excellence (IRCE) is currently being built along the airport road, Abuja and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of next year.

Executive Director of the centre, Prof Alash’le Abimiku said the main goal of the centre is to build the capacity of scientists and enable them conduct research focused on diseases that affect the country.

Abimiku made this known yesterday while fielding questions from newsmen at the construction site of the centre in Abuja. He said most Nigerian trained scientists have to travel outside the country to conduct research, saying Nigeria was losing its talents as a result.

“We need a facility that will allow us really conduct research and that has the kind of infrastructure whether laboratory, data, or bioinformatics among others that will allow us to conduct research at a very high level. It should also be a facility to store, and process very safely without creating any safety concerns. That is why the centre was set up,” she said.

She said the country has also been witnessing various diseases outbreak and that the centre would enable scientists to conduct research to understand the diseases and how to treat them better.