The Department of Medical Microbiology, located in the Faculty of Health Sciences is a leader in research on infectious diseases and the mother of two institutes; Kenya AIDS Vaccine Initiative - Institute of Clinical Research (KAVI-ICR) and University of Nairobi Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases (UNITID).  The department serves the School of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Dental Sciences. Besides teaching undergraduate students of these schools, the department teaches medical microbiology to postgraduate students from departments of Pathology, Surgery and UNITID.