Ernest Cook Ultrasound Research and Education Institute, (ECUREI), the only one of its kind in Sub- Saharan Africa, is the leading center at tertiary level in the training of Ultrasound, Medical Imaging and other health-related courses.

It was the brainchild of Prof. Michael Kawooya, the current Deputy Principal, after undertaking a Masters’ Degree of Medicine in Radiology. Prior to that, in 1997, Prof. Henry Stuart Kasozi, the current Principal had obtained an Ultrasound Fellowship with Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia USA at the time when both Ultrasound services and Training were non- existent in Uganda.

Collaboration with Prof. Barry Goldberg of Thomas Jefferson University, USA followed and resulted in the donation of an Ultrasound machine to train Trainers in Uganda. Two Fellowship scholarships for Trainers at the Jefferson Ultrasound Research and Education Institute (JUREI) were offered in 2001.

This cooperation later resulted in the establishment of a Centre of Excellence in Ultrasound Training in Uganda, Africa. Thus, ECUREI was born and housed in Mengo Hospital. In the same year, ECUREI began to offer Radiology Services to Mengo Hospital, one of the oldest hospitals in the country. This marked the beginning of the second arm of ECUREI service provision.