A strong academic and technical partner in Laos, LOMWRU is known for its advanced laboratory and clinical research capability. We conduct policy relevant research, train Lao scientists and technicians, and build national capacity for diagnostic microbiology and biosafety. Through these activities we strengthen the research culture in Laos.
Directed by Elizabeth Ashley, the Lao-Oxford-Mahosot Hospital-Wellcome Trust Research Unit (LOMWRU) is situated within the Infectious Diseases Building of Mahosot Hospital, a 650-bed primary to tertiary hospital in Vientiane, the capital of Lao PDR (Laos). Laos shares borders with China, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Viet Nam and has a population of 7.4 million with a GDP per capita in 2023 of $2,075 per annum.
Part of the Mahosot Hospital Microbiology Department, LOMWRU supports Mahosot’s diagnostic microbiology and virology laboratories. The virology laboratory is also partly supported by the Unité des Virus Émergents (UVE) in Marseille, France, with funding from the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD). We are a collaborative team of 97 staff: 24 Lao government staff (microbiology lab technicians and scientists), and 73 project staff (academic, technical, operations).
Our multidisciplinary research focuses on infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Laos with the goal of reducing morbidity and mortality. We conduct clinical research, evaluate new diagnostics, and make a substantial contribution to national surveillance of respiratory viruses, dengue, Japanese Encephalitis (JE), antibiotic resistance, and antimalarial drug resistance.
Increasingly, we conduct health economics research, aiming to provide useful data to inform Lao government policy decisions, particularly for prioritisation and rational use of new medicines and health technologies. There is also a small Medicine Quality Research Group team in Vientiane.