Professor Sir John Savill, Chief Executive of the Medical Research Council (MRC) United Kingdom, will be visiting MRC Unit The Gambia, from the 3 - 7 April, 2017. As part of his visit, Sir John Savill will pay a courtesy call to the President of the republic of The Gambia, his Excellency Adama Barrow and also visit our West Africa Global Health Alliance (WAGHA) partners in Senegal. The visit of Professor Sir John Savill coincides with MRCG’s 70th anniversary celebrations of tackling major infectious diseases of global public health importance in sub Saharan Africa and beyond. His visit to MRCG will be his second visit to The Unit in his capacity as Chief Executive of the MRC.

Professor Sir John Savill, a Clinician Scientist from Edinburgh, took up the position as Chief Executive and Deputy Chair on 1 October 2010. The appointment was initially for three years; after which it was extended until April 2016, and subsequently to 30 September 2018. He was a member of the MRC from 2002 to 2008 and chaired two Research Boards during this period. Between 2008 and 2010, Sir John worked part-time as the Chief Scientist for the Scottish Government Health Directorates and he was knighted in the 2008, New Year Honours List for his service to clinical science.

At MRCG, Sir John Savill will meet with The Unit’s Leadership team and our young scientists from our three themes; Disease Control and Elimination, Nutrition, and Vaccines and Immunity. He will also be given a tour of our facilities in Fajara and visit our field station in Keneba. He will then proceed, for a 2 day visit to our WAGHA partners which includes; Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD) and Institut de Recherche en Santé, de Surveillance Epidémiologique et de Formations (IRESSEF), in Senegal.

In Senegal, Sir John Savill will formally launch the WAGHA at the University of Cheikh Anta Diop, which will mark the identity of the Alliance, which seeks to establish a regional hub for training and research. While in Senegal, he will also hold meetings with key staff of WAGHA, the British Ambassador in Dakar, and Senegalese government officials.