In Mali, West Africa, the International Centers for Excellence in Research (ICER) program was established based on experience gained from NIAID long-standing malaria research collaboration with Malian scientists, academic leadership, and the Malian government. Malaria researchers from the NIAID Division of Intramural Research initiated a collaboration focused on malaria entomology in 1989 with counterparts at the National School of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bamako. At the time, Mali was selected as an ideal site for collaboration because of a recognized team of Malian researchers already working on the genetics and cytogenetics of Anopheles gambiae, the primary vector of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. Shortly thereafter, the Malaria Research and Training Center (MRTC) was established at the National School of Medicine and Pharmacy to facilitate research in collaboration with NIAID and other international partners.
The research laboratories and support facilities at the National School of Medicine and Pharmacy (which became the Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy and Oral Surgery in 1995 when the University of Mali was founded) were expanded significantly in the early 1990s with support from NIAID and other international partners. The scope of research activities was further expanded in subsequent years to include other aspects of malaria research and research on other parasitic and viral diseases. Since 2002 when the ICER was established in Mali, the MRTC has continued as a Malian entity affiliated, as are other research program entities, with the NIAID-supported ICER.