It was founded as the Fatima Institute on October 8, 2005, by the Emeritus of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Makeni led by Reverend George Biguzzi (born 1936, Italy).
In 2011, along with City of Rest and the Community Association for Psychosocial Services (CAPS), UNIMAK became a founding member of the Mental Health Coalition (MHC) of Sierra Leone.
The Coalition's mission was to "facilitate the development of emergency first responder programs to alleviate the burden of traumatic injury in Sierra Leone.
[12] The laboratory provides training for local scientists and students, crucial to sequencing and managing continued Ebola cases in Makeni without international collaborators present.
Subsequent to the Ebola Crisis, two groups began searching for hemorrhagic disease reservoirs in West Africa to preempt future crises.