Objective: Quantifying global health loss from diseases, injuries, and risk factors to support evidence-based policy planning and practice.
I provide critical and substantive feedback on scientific manuscripts in development for GBD and affiliated research projects.
I collaborate on scientific publications related to my expertise in infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and epidemiology.
I assist in disseminating GBD findings for research and policy use, ensuring relevant health metrics reach key stakeholders.
Project: Application of Data Science to Build Research Capacity in Zoonoses and Food-Borne Infections in West Africa (DS-ZOOFOOD).
Supervisor: Prof. Eric S. Donkor and Dr. Emmanuel N. Ugbo.
Objective: To investigates the genomic characteristics of foodborne bacterial pathogens isolated from diverse food sources across West Africa.
I collect field-based samples and perform microbiological culture, molecular characterization, and bioinformatic analysis.
Project 1: Recent Advances in Immunotherapeutic and Vaccine-Based Approaches for the Treatment of Drug-Resistant Bacterial Infections (Published in ACS Infectious Diseases).
Project 2: Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Immunity, Vaccine and Therapeutics development panoramas or landscapes (Accepted in Advanced Therapeutics).
Supervisor: Dr. Christian K.O Dzuvor (Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University).
Objective: To investigate recent progress in the use of immunotherapies for the treatment of drug-resistant bacteria, with a focus on innovative targeting strategies, delivery, clinical applications, and adverse effects.
I conceptualized (project 1), reviewed the literature (project 1 and 2) and translated research findings into clinical practice and future perspective (project 1 and 2).
Project: Exploring the prevalence, antimicrobial susceptibility, and genomic landscape of Helicobacter pylori-Associated gastritis at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital: A multifaceted approach.
Supervisor: Prof. Nicholas T. K. D. Dayie.
Objective: To assess the prevalence, evaluate the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and characterize the genomic landscape of H. pylori isolates at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital.
I contributed to developing the grant proposal, reviewed the literature, and drafted the manuscript.
Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Ghana Medical School
Project: Invasive Pneumococcal Disease Carriage among children with sickle cell disease in Ghana: Post vaccination study (PneumoSIC).
Supervisor: Prof. Eric S. Donkor
Objective: To understand the epidemiology of pneumococcal carriage and invasive disease among children with sickle cell disease in the post-conjugate vaccine era in Ghana.
I collect nasopharyngeal swab samples from the study participants using pediatric-size swabs and stored them in cryotubes containing STGG medium.
I inoculate swab specimens onto selective and non-selective sheep blood agar plates, incubated them, and selected alpha-hemolytic colonies for further characterization and antibiotic susceptibility testing using the Kirby Bauer method, including testing for penicillin and ceftriaxone resistance.
Project: A Clinically Oriented Antimicrobial Resistance Network (ACORN).
Supervisor: Prof. Eric S. Donkor.
Objective: Addressing antimicrobial resistance by developing effective strategies to combat it in healthcare settings, as well as promoting the appropriate use of antibiotics.
I obtain blood culture specimens from the Neonatal, Oncology, Surgical ICU and Renal units of two tertiary hospitals in Ghana, specifically, the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and 37 Military Hospital.
I detect growth of microorganisms in the blood culture bottles using the BD BACTEC™ FX Blood Culture System.
I culture the samples using media such as blood agar, chocolate agar, mannitol salt agar, and MacConkey agar.
I perform gram staining and biochemical tests to identify any bacterial isolates and confirmed the results using the MALDI Biotyper® (MBT).
I conduct antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) on the bacterial isolates and recorded and interpreted the resulting data from the bacteriological tests.
I draft reports and manuscripts based on the obtained results to provide clinicians with access to up-to-date uidelines and research on antibiotic use for different infections and patient populations.
Project: Profiling and characterization of fungal isolates in the autopsy unit of a Ghanaian
referral hospital.
Supervisors: Prof. Lydia Mosi and Dr. Isawumi Abiola.
Objective: To detect potentially harmful fungal species, present in autopsy environments and assess the efficacy of disinfectants against these fungi.
Results: The most commonly identified fungal isolates were Aspergillus and Penicillium species. Testing of various disinfectant dilutions indicated that a one-fold dilution exhibited the greatest ability to inhibit further growth of these fungi.
I conceptualized the study, reviewed the literature, wrote the research proposal, and developed the full thesis.
I employed various microbiological and molecular techniques, such as fungal culture, PCR, DNA extraction, agarose gel electrophoresis, automated image analysis, microscopy, nanodrop, and microplate spectroscopy.
I presented research findings to the Mosi Research team.
Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research Department of Immunology
Projects: Identification of immunodominant T cell epitopes in Plasmodium antigens for vaccine design and the identification of antibody correlates of immunity against clinical malaria in children.
Supervisor: Prof. Kwadwo Asamoah Kusi.
Objectives: To identify CD8+ T cell epitopes within previously identified positive peptide pools. Results: Analysis of four P. falciparum antigens identified 135 T cell epitopes, with 75% representing novel discoveries.
I performed the following activities in the parasite culture laboratory: culturing Plasmodium parasites, observing and counting infected red blood cells under a microscope.
Within the serology laboratory, I leveraged protein A chromatography for selective IgG isolation from plasma samples.
I gained hands-on experience with Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) for detecting and quantifying IgG antibodies in plasma.
I harnessed density gradient centrifugation to fractionate peripheral blood mononuclear cells from adults with lifelong malaria parasite exposure to identify immunodominant antigen-specific peptide pools.
I gained practical skills in PCR and agarose gel electrophoresis for DNA separation of samples during my stay in the molecular biology laboratory.
West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens Protein Expression Lab
Project: Expression and identification of proteins in dairy, non-dairy and yoghurt samples.
Supervisor: Dr. Francis Krampa.
Objectives: To characterize proteins in Dairy, Non-dairy and Yoghurt samples.
Results: Analysis of milk and yogurt proteins revealed that caseins and whey proteins are the main components, with differences in specific casein bonds between milk and non-dairy varieties suggesting lower protein content in non-dairy varieties. Isolation of the protein fractions showed alpha-S1 casein in both dairy products, alpha-S2 casein in milk only, and a distinct beta-casein band in milk that was absent in non-dairy products.
I conceptualized the study, wrote a research paper based on the results, and presented findings to the research group.
I gained hands-on experience in protein extraction, SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis for separating proteins, and using the western blot technique for identifying proteins.