Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research

The Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research (PNG IMR) is the principal institution conducting health research in Papua New Guinea with a focus on health problems affecting the country's population.

Signboard at IMR Goroka

History

The Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research is a statutory body of the Government of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The Institute was established in 1968 through an Act of Parliament and it effectively acts as the research arm of the PNG Department of Health. The ultimate aim of all the Institute's research activities is to provide effective interventions, leading to improvements in people's health and the control and prevention of disease. The basis for achieving this aim is greater understanding of the disease process and constraints to change. In part, this understanding comes from knowledge of the external causative agents of disease and in part from examining the host factors involved.

Early work of the institute focused on respiratory diseases, pigbel (clostridial necrotizing enteritis), and kuru. Since then, major research programs have been established in respiratory diseases, malaria, malnutrition, enteric diseases, sexual health, women's health, and others.

The Institute's second director (1977-2000) was Professor Michael Alpers, an Australian medical researcher who was instrumental in the discovery of the epidemiology and transmission of kuru.

Organization and Activities

The Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research has its headquarters with offices and laboratories in Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province. The headquarters also house the Michael Alpers Library and the Adolf Saweri Lecture Theatre. Another major branch is located near the coastal town of Madang. The Institute has smaller branches and offices in Maprik and Wewak, East Sepik Province and in the capital Port Moresby. Research activities are carried out in several additional field sites across the country.

The PNG IMR is organized in an administrative and support services section and four scientific units:

• Vector Borne Disease Unit

The unit focuses on research into malaria and lymphatic filariasis. Most activities are concentrated in the branches in Madang and Maprik. The unit includes molecular and immunological laboratories, a large research microscopy section, and an entomology laboratory. The unit also conducts clinical trials with antimalarial drugs.

• Infection and Immunity Unit

The unit conducts research into enteric diseases, including cholera, and respiratory diseases including pneumonia and tuberculosis. The unit also conducts continuous surveillance of suspected cases of kuru

• Population Health and Demography Unit

This unit emerged in 2011 from the former Operational Research Unit. The unit focuses on the evaluation of population-based health interventions (currently mainly the National Malaria Control Program), operational research related to large-scale health interventions, and research into cause of death.

• Sexual and Reproductive Health Unit

This is the second unit that emerged from the previous Operational Research Unit. It conducts clinical, laboratory and social research into sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS, and other sexual and reproductive health issues.

Research at IMR is interdisciplinary and often translational. Scientific disciplines represented at the institute include Epidemiology microbiology, immunology, entomology, medical anthropology, molecular genetics, biostatistics, public health, and demography.

External links

• PNG Institute of Medical Research
• The PNG Medical Journal