The National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) Director General Prof. Said Aboud attended the MSMT project meeting today on 17th October, 2023, which took place in Chicago, USA prior to the start of ASTMH 2023 Conference where MSMT symposium and poster presentations will feature. The meeting was attended by Head of Programs, Dr. Catherine Joachim, National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) Manager, Dr Samuel Lazaro both from MOH, collaborators, BMGF Program Officer, Dr Estee, PI, Dr Deus Ishengoma, NIMR DG and project team members. In his remarks, Prof. Aboud emphasized the significance of malaria as a disease of public health importance in Tanzania and highlighted NIMR close collaboration with the Ministry of Health through NMCT. He commended the uniqueness of the MSMT project, which utilizes Molecular Surveillance approach to monitor malaria in 26 regions of the country and congratulated the excellent progress made so far in the implementation of the project. He acknowledged the financial support provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) to NIMR through MSMT project. NIMR DG was delighted with immense capacity building of human resources done through training of post-doctoral fellows, PhD, MSc and interns as well as acquisition and establishment of the state-of the art malaria genomics laboratory at NIMR Headquarters. He underscored the importance to ensure that research findings emanating from the project findings should result not only in publications but also policy briefs that can be shared to influence policy change, decision making and best practices in malaria case management, prevention and control in the country. Additionally, Prof. Aboud challenged the project team to develop the much needed MSc in bioinformatics and accredit short course curricula in collaboration with Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) to offer the trainings with CPD points to individuals in need of the same within and outside the country. Further, he advised project team to prepare action plan to accredit malaria genomics laboratory to increase its reputation internationally. He expressed NIMR commitment to continue collaborating with BMGF and assured of institutional support in ensuring the successful completion of the current phase of the project. #MSMTProject #MalariaResearch #PublicHealth