Prof. I.J Asiedu-Gyekye, Dean, School of Pharmacy, UG
The Department of Pharmacognosy and Herbal Medicine, School of Pharmacy, University of Ghana, has held an inception workshop on the project titled “Drug Development from Ghanaian Medicinal Plants with Good Preclinical Results in Epilepsy Treatment”. This event was held on 22nd March, 2022 at the ISSER seminar room.
The project seeks to engage critical stakeholders in the area of epilepsy treatment to harness traditional herbal knowledge used over centuries in Ghana. The Project’s Principal Investigator and Head of the Department of Pharmacognosy and Herbal Medicine, Dr. Emelia Oppong Bekoe was of the firm belief there is a well-established traditional nature-based medical system in West Africa which represents a major socio-cultural heritage and features valuable and unique ethnomedicinal information for drug development which needs to be explored.
Dr. Emelia Oppong Bekoe (PI) giving a presentation
The Chairperson for the event, Professor Isaac Julius Asiedu-Gyekye, who is also the Dean of the School of Pharmacy, University of Ghana, expressed his satisfaction at the level of consultation which he believes ensures that all gaps are adequately covered to bring an acceptable product into the Ghanaian market.
Dr. Cica Vissiennon from the University of Leipzig and project Co-Director, gave a goodwill message and expressed hope that this collaboration will further strengthen academic collaboration between the University of Ghana and University of Leipzig.
The event saw stakeholders from different spectrum of herbal medicine practice including the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA); Pharmacy Council; Traditional and Alternative Medicines Directorate (TAMD, Ministry of Health); National Folklore Board; Ghana Federation of Herbal Medicine Practitioners (GHAFTRAM); Center for Plant Medicine Research (CPMR); Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ); and researchers from the University of Ghana and University of Cape Coast. The investigators on this project are Dr. Patrick Amoateng, Dr. Awo Afi Kwapong, Dr. Thomford Kwesi Prah, Dr. Patrick Adjei, Prof. Alex Asase and Prof. Isaac J. Asiedu-Gyekye.
Participants after the stakeholder workshop
Representatives from the Office of Research, Innovation and Development (ORID) and the Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology (IAST) took participants through the Intellectual Property and Technology transfer implications of the project and how they could support.
