Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry members (left to right) Dr. Lawrence Asamoah Adutwum; Dr. Samuel Frimpong-Manso; Professor Nathaniel Nii Adu Okine; Dr. Kwabena Frimpong-Manso Opuni; and Dr. Michael Lartey
The Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Ghana School of Pharmacy, under the College of Health Science has been selected as one of 13 awardees chosen for the Instrumental Access 2019 programme from a pool of 46 applications received from 22 countries through a rigorous and competitive selection process. Each applicant outlined ways in which infusion of modern scientific equipment could remove barriers to research and education at their institution to enable faculty and students to participate as equals in the global community of scientists and to use the power of science to solve problems for their communities.
The announcement of the 2019 Instrumental Access awardees was made during Seeding Labs’ annual “Positively Instrumental” event held on May 1, 2019, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, which celebrates the power of global science.
Instrumental Access, a flagship programme of Seeding Labs, makes high-quality laboratory equipment and supplies available to departments of university and research institutes in developing countries.
The 2019 Instrumental Access awardees specialise in disciplines from across the biological and chemical sciences. Their research interests are in infectious diseases, personalised medicine, food safety, biofuels, communication disorders, water quality, herbal medicines, agriculture, and textile manufacturing.
Dr. Kwabena Frimpong-Manso Opuni, Ag. Head, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, posits that “Adequate equipment will provide a conducive environment for our staff to solve the key health-related challenges facing the people of Ghana and Africa as a whole”. The Department’s research is focused on proteomics, chemometrics/machine learning applications in pharmaceuticals quality control, herbal product quality assurance and standardization, post-market quality assessments of medicines, drug discovery from natural products, malaria diagnostics, pharmacokinetics, antimicrobial resistance, and monitoring pharmaceutical waste in the environment.
“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome the 2019 awardees to the Seeding Labs community. With access to modern tools through the Instrumental Access programme, this extraordinarily talented group of scientists have limitless potential to solve problems that matter to their communities and to us all.” said Dr. Melissa P. Wu, Chief Executive Officer, Seeding Labs.
The Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry acknowledges the immense support of the following to the success of this application: Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, Vice-Chancellor; Reverend Professor Patrick F. Ayeh-Kumi Provost, College of Health Sciences; Professor Julius Isaac Asiedu-Gyekye, Ag. Dean, School of Pharmacy; Mr. Michael Opare-Atuah, College Secretary; Mr. Samuel Nkrumah, Ag. College Finance Officer; Mrs. Susan Fosuah-Okan School Administrator; Mrs. Lydia Monnie, Chief Procurement Assistant; Mr. Augustine Amissare, Assistant Registrar, College of Health Sciences and the Office of Legal Counsel.
Students being instructed in the lab
Seeding Labs is a Boston-based non-governmental organisation dedicated to empowering scientists to transform the world. Seeding Labs has built a coalition of over 140 public and private sector partners to provide scientists in developing nations with lab equipment, training, and opportunities to collaborate with experts in their field - and to use these vital resources to improve education, research, and economic development. Currently, Seeding Labs has shipped 216 tons of lab equipment to 70 institutions in 34 countries around the world.
