The 6th annual WACCBIP Research Conference from July 20-22, 2022, will be held in the WACCBIP Conference Hall at the University of Ghana and also streamed online simultaneously via Youtube, Zoom and Facebook. The opening ceremony which starts at 9:00am will be chaired by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo with special guest of honour, Dr. Anarfi Asamoa-Baah, Presidential Coordinator for Ghana’s COVID-19 Response Programme.
The WACCBIP Research Conference is an annual showcase of world-class research conducted by WACCBIP fellows and members of the Centre’s international faculty drawn from prestigious institutions worldwide. In line with the theme “Building Forward: Elevating African Research Innovation and Output”, this year’s conference features keynote addresses from global research leaders including Professor Nadia Sam-Agudu, Senior Technical Advisor for Pediatric and Adolescent HIV at the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN), and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, USA; Dr. Peter Quashie, Deputy Director, Research and Senior Research Fellow at WACCBIP; and Dr. Bismarck Dinko, Senior Lecturer, Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Basic and Biomedical Sciences, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho.
WACCBIP has one of the biggest biomedical research training programmes in West Africa, and we are supported by the Government of Ghana through the World Bank African Centres of Excellence project and Wellcome through the DELTAS Africa initiative. Since its establishment in 2014, WACCBIP has provided fellowships to 182 Master’s students, 102 PhD students, and 29 Postdoctoral fellows from 15 different African countries. WACCBIP’s research has contributed significantly to the response to the current COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana through the generation of real-time data on genomic sequencing and sero-prevalence studies. This work has provided key information on the prevalence of COVID-19 and the distribution of SARS-CoV-2 variants to better inform public health interventions, including infection control measures and vaccine deployment.
The three-day conference provides a valuable opportunity to create direct pathways for the young scientists trained at the Centre to connect with world-renowned scientists and industry professionals. The conference will also showcase new scientific knowledge and novel applications of technology, which could lead to the development of new disease diagnostic tools, drugs, and vaccines. The conference will include both in-person and live virtual/online streaming presentations and will attract more than 350 participants from top research institutions & industries in Africa, Europe, and the U.S.A.
