Get ethics approval for a research study from KEMRI (SERU)
Kenya Medical Research Institute · sources read 3 Oct 2026
Submit new study proposals to KEMRI's Scientific and Ethics Review Unit (SERU) on the RHInnO ethics platform, after scientific review by your own institution. SERU committees meet monthly, and the agenda closes 10 working days before each meeting.
- Fee
- We couldn't confirm a fee from the official page. Check it there before you pay.
- Deadline
- The agenda closes 10 working days before each SERU committee meeting
- Where
- Online on KEMRI's RHInnO ethics platform (kemri.rhinno.net). SERU is at KEMRI headquarters, off Mbagathi Way, Nairobi.
What you need
- Your full proposal (with budget, data management plan and investigators' CVs)
- A letter of scientific review and approval from your host institution (non-KEMRI studies)
- Informed consent documents in English and local-language translations, with translation certificates
- Ethics training certificates for the investigators (such as CITI, TRREE or NIH)
Steps
- Get scientific review of your proposal first: by your host institution, or by the Centre Scientific Committee for KEMRI studies.
- Create an account on KEMRI's RHInnO ethics platform and submit the new proposal there.
- One of SERU's committees reviews it at its monthly meeting and approves or rejects it. You get a decision letter.
- Send later requests (amendments, annual renewals, safety reports) by email to seru@kemri.go.ke and kemriseru18@gmail.com.
Watch out
- Renew every open study every year, even if you are only analysing data. Missing the renewal means you must pause the study and file a protocol deviation.
- Report a serious adverse event to SERU by email within 24 hours of learning about it.
Who can apply
- KEMRI and non-KEMRI researchers who want to do research with human participants in Kenya
Official sources (5)
- Scientific Ethics Review Unit (SERU) kemri.go.ke · read 3 Oct 2026
- Schedule of SERU Committee Meetings - 2026 (KEMRI/RD/22, 8 December 2025) kemri.go.ke · read 3 Oct 2026
- PI SOP 1: Submission for Initial Review of a Proposal kemri.go.ke · read 3 Oct 2026
- Submission Checklist for Non-KEMRI Protocols kemri.go.ke · read 3 Oct 2026
- RHInnO Ethics - KEMRI Scientific and Ethics Review Unit kemri.rhinno.net · read 3 Oct 2026