Fiifi Ofori-Acquah, PhD is the Founding Director of the West African Genetic Medicine Centre (WAGMC), President of the Sickle Cell Foundation of Ghana, and Director of the Ghanaian Genome (Gh-Genome) Project. He is a Professor of Medical Laboratory Science and Associate Professor of Medicine and Human Genetics, and a globally renowned basic and translational researcher in sickle cell disease (SCD).
He holds a PhD degree in molecular genetics and a masters in biomolecular organization both from the University of London. He was classically trained as a medical laboratory scientific officer in the UK national health service and worked for many years in hospital hematology and blood transfusion laboratories in the UK before transitioning to a research career path.
Professor Ofori-Acquah built his experience in research working at the University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama, USA; Emory University, Atlanta, USA; University of Pittsburgh, USA, and more recently at the University of Ghana. His research interests are focused on SCD molecular pathogenesis, genomics, and innovative therapy of acute complications. He developed the first mouse model of the acute chest syndrome in SCD and defined extracellular heme as a danger associated molecular pattern molecule in SCD in a landmark paper published in the Journal of Clinical Investigations. His work in the Sickle Cell Disease Genomics of Africa network has established the largest research cohort of SCD in the world.
Professor Ofori-Acquah acquired experience in governance and administration through formal training in an Executive Leadership program at Emory University, and multiple leadership positions as Director of the Centre for Endothelial Cell Biology at Emory, Director of the Centre for Translational and International Hematology at the University of Pittsburgh, and Dean of the School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, University of Ghana. He has served on multiple national and international scientific and technical committees. He was member of the National Technical Advisory Committee for Newborn Screening, and the African Health Diagnostic Platform Technical Committees, both under the Ghana Ministry of Health. He served on multiple review committees for the US National Institutes of Health, including the Respiratory Integrative Biology and Translational Medicine, Molecular and Cellular Hematology and the Hemostasis, Transfusion Blood Cells and Thrombosis study sections. He is a member of many prestigious societies such as. the American Society of Hematology, where he served as Vice Chair of the Society’s Diversity Committee. He was also a member of the American Thoracic Society and the American Association for Cancer Research. Prof. Ofori-Acquah is a native of Cape Coast and an alumnus of Adisadel College, where he was the Serjeant Major of the cadet corps.
