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Kenya AIDS Vaccine Initiative (KAVI) is a research unity based at the University of Nairobi, Department of Medical Microbiology and was established in 1999 by local researchers through funding from International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and Medical Research Council (MRC) Human Immunology Unit at Oxford University.

KAVI came into being based on work started in the early 1980s by researchers at the University of Nairobi’s Department of Medical Microbiology studying STI’s and later HIV/AIDS. During this research a number of women were identified who, despite being exposed frequently to HIV, remained uninfected. A similar phenomenon was observed in Gambia by researchers from Oxford University and these findings lead to the development of the KAVI in collaboration with researchers from Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious diseases, University of Manitoba, Canada.

Based on these two observations collaboration was established between University of Nairobi, University of Manitoba and Oxford University to explore this phenomenon further. It was through these collaboration that the concept of Cytolytic T Lymphocyte (CTL) as a mechanism offering partial resistance was established.

The CTL concept lead to the development of a vaccine that would elicit CTL immune response. It is these developments that lead to the establishment of KAVI as site for HIV/AIDS vaccine trials.

KAVI consist of two sites, KAVI-KNH and KAVI-Kangemi. KAVI-KNH is a site established for PhaseI clinical trials while KAVI-Kangemi is for PhaseII and PhaseIII clinical trials.