Jimma University is one of the public higher education institutions in Ethiopia with a mission of producing competent professionals in the various disciplines of learning who respond effectively to the needs of society.

The strategies used to achieve this lofty goal are from experience gained through community based education which integrates training, service and research, where rigorous research undertaken to acquire knowledge and skills is highly essential.
In support of its objectives related to research, JU established The Institute of Health Sciences Research (IHSR) with a clearly defined mission in line with its strategic plan to facilitate support for both students and staff.

The IHSR would serve as support establishments both to students and staff for:

• Research labs and field research centres,
• Capacity building in research methodology, 
• Generating, management and analysis of data, 
• Communicate findings in different fields of study, etc…

The Institute will also serve to address societal problems and information needs for evidence based decision making by involving all partners in development

Emergence of the Institute
In 1992, the ‘Infant Survival differential Project’ was initiated by Prof. Makonnen Asefa, the first director of the Institute, which was a longitudinal study to examine the health, growth and survival of children overtime. The project included 45 urban and 66 rural kebeles in Jimma, Illubabor and Keffa administrative zones.
Along with the project data, about ten papers were published in national and international journals,   [The Ethiopian Journal of Health Development, volume 16, Special Issue, 2002] and more than seven theses were produced.

Based on this experience a study was undertaken to establish a model woreda to generate longitudinal data, in Cheha Woreda, Gurage Zone in 2000 [Published in the ‘Ethiopian Journal of Health Sciences, Volume 13, Special Issue, January 2003’] .

In 2003, the national health survey was conducted in collaboration with Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Following an unsuccessful attempt to establish a demographic surveillance system site in 1998 due to resource constraints, the Gilgel Gibe Field Research Centre was established in 2005 and the IHSR was established in 2007 through consideration of the experiences and expertise gained from these previous endeavors.