Academic Degrees

• Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of New Mexico, U.S.A
• Ph.D., Stockholm University, Sweden
• Licentiate Degree (MLic), Stockholm University, Sweden
• BSc. (Hons) M.Phil, University of Ghana, Ghana

Research Interest

My research focuses on three important infectious diseases of public health significance; HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria with regards to pathogen persistence, immune evasion, identification of biomarkers as surrogates of infection, efficient diagnosis, vaccine development and repurposing of existing drugs for better disease treatment.

I have a broad background in biomedical research, and have participated in a number of projects in autophagy as an effector against HIV and Mycobacteria tuberculosis infection during my Postdoctoral fellowship. My Ph.D. degree focused on mucosal immunity with regards to immune evasion and identification of biomarkers of diagnostic importance in tuberculosis. My M Phil thesis was a baseline study on seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in pigs in Ghana. More recently, I have broadened my research scope to include exposure assessment (bio monitoring) of electronic waste workers at the notorious Agbogbloshie e-waste dump site in Accra- Ghana to hazards such as heavy metals and smoke, as well as assessment of environmental media for pollutants as a consequence of e-waste recycling activities.

Teaching

• GSPH 209: Introduction to Microbiology (undergraduate)
• GSPH 344: Environmental Exposure Assessment (undergraduate)
• BEOH 609: Principles of Occupational Toxicology (MSc)
• BEOH 614: Occupational Safety Practice (MSc)
• BEOH 708: Advanced Occupational Health (PhD

Honours and Awards

• 2009 - 2013 National Institute of Health (NIH) Sponsored Postdoctoral Fellowship, School of |Medicine, University of New Mexico, USA
• 2006-2008  Wenner-Grens Institute scholarship for Ph.D. studies, Stockholm University,Sweden
• 2004-2005  Hjärt-Lungfonden Fellowship, Stockholm University, Sweden
• 2004            Distinction, Ph.D. Qualifying Examination, Stockholm University, Sweden.
• 2003-2004  Swedish Institute Guest Scholarship, Stockholm University, Sweden
• 1996-1998  SHELL Foundation-Ghana Graduate Fellowship, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra

Selected Publications

• Chauhan S*, Ahmed Z*, Bradfute SB, Arko-Mensah J, Mandell MA, Choi SW, Kimura T, Blanchet F,   Waller A, Mudd MH, Jiang S, Sklar L, Timmins GS,  Maphis N, Bhaskar K, Piguet V, and Deretic V. Pharmaceutical screen identifies novel target processes for activation of autophagy with a broad translational potential. Nat Commun. 2015 Oct 27;6:8620.
• Mandell MA, Jain A, Arko-Mensah J, Chauhan S, Kimura T, Dinkins C, Silvestri G, Münch J,   Kirchhoff F, Simonsen A, Wei Y, Levine B, Johansen T, Deretic V. TRIM Proteins Regulate Autophagy and Can Target Autophagic Substrates by Direct Recognition. Dev Cell. 2014 Aug 25:30(4):394-409.
• Dupont N, Chauhan S, Arko-Mensah J, Castillo EF, Masedunskas A, Weigerth R, Proikas-Cezanne T, Deretic V. Neutral lipid stores and lipase PNPLA5 contribute to autophagosome biogenesis. Curr Biol. 2014 Mar 17;24(6):609-20.
• Bradfute SB, Castillo EF, Arko-Mensah J, Chauhan S, Jiang S, Mandell M, Deretic V. Autophagy as an immune effector against tuberculosis. Curr Opin Microbiol. 2013 Jun;16(3):355-65.
• Castillo EF, Dekonenko A, Arko-Mensah J, Mandell MA, Dupont N, Jiang S, Delgado-Vargas M, Timmins GS, Bhattacharya D, Yang H, Hutt J, Lyons CR, Dobos KM, Deretic V. Autophagy protects against active tuberculosis by suppressing bacterial burden and inflammation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Nov 13;109(46):E3168-76.
• Pilli M, Arko-Mensah J, Ponpuak M, Roberts E, Master S, Mandell MA, Dupont N, Ornatowski W, Jiang S, Bradfute SB, Bruun JA, Hansen TE, Johansen T, Deretic V. TBK-1 promotes autophagy-mediated antimicrobial defense by controlling autophagosome maturation. Immunity 2012 Aug 24;37(2):223-34.
• Dinkins C, Arko-Mensah J, Deretic V. Autophagy and HIV. Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2010 Sep;21(7):712-8. Review
• Arko-Mensah J, Rahman MJ, Dégano IR, Chuquimia OD, Fotio AL, Garcia I, Fernández C. Resistance to mycobacterial infection: a pattern of early immune responses leads to a better control of pulmonary infection in C57BL/6 compared with BALB/c mice. Vaccine 2009 Dec 9;27(52):7418-27.