June 30, 2025

A University of Ghana (UG) delegation led by the Vice-Chancellor (VC) Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu has completed a visit to the National Institute of Genetics (NIG) in Japan to boost the university’s emerging programmes in genetics research and training. The VC was accompanied by Professor Solomon Ofori-Acquah, Dean, School of Biomedical and Allied Sciences and Centre Leader of the new West African Genetic Medicine Centre (WAGMC), and Professor Boniface Kayang, Head, Department of Animal Science. The visit is the culmination of several years of collaboration fostered by Prof. Kayang with researchers in Kyoto University and more recently with NIG.

The World Bank has selected three Centres of the University of Ghana for funding under the African Centres of Excellence (ACE) Impact project. ACE Impact is a continuation of the initial ACE (ACE I) project that was launched in 2014 by West and Central African countries with support from the World Bank and the Association of African Universities. ACE Impact is focused on scaling up postgraduate education and applied research that are fundamental to economic growth in Africa. The two existing ACEs of the University, the West African Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) led by Professor Eric Danquah, and the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) led by Professor Gordon Awandare, will each receive $5.5 million. A new ACE in the University named the West African Genetic Medicine Centre (WAGMC) led by Professor Solomon Ofori-Acquah will receive $6.4 million.

Professor Mahmoud Sani, a Professor of Internal Medicine and a renowned Cardiologist at the Department of Medicine, Bayero University Kano  and Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital has been appointed as Deputy Vice Chancellor (Management Services)  by The University Governing Council, Bayero University, Kano, following a nomination by the Senate. The appointment is for a two-year term from 2021 to 2023.

Professor Solomon Fiifi Ofori-Acquah, PhD, Dean of the School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences (SBAHS), College of Health Sciences, and a prominent sickle cell disease scholar has led a 32-member team of hematologists, pulmonologist, cardiologists, pediatricians, geneticists, ethicists, and basic scientists to secure a U54 Center grant of US$5.5 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA.

Prof Lorna Awo Renner of the Department of Paediatrics, School of Medicine and Dentistry has received The First Lady’s Excellence Award for Medicine/Health Care Delivery.
Prof. Renner, was one of the eight women recognized by the First Lady on International Women’s day for excellence in various fields.

Nine African Centres of Excellence for Development Impact (ACE impact) have signed a performance and funding agreement with the Ministry of Education to focus on scaling up postgraduate education in the country.
The centres hosted in five public universities in the country, were also tasked to scale up applied research that was fundamental to economic growth in the region.

Scientists at the University of Ghana have successfully sequenced genomes of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the global COVID-19 pandemic, obtaining important information about the genetic composition of viral strains in 15 of the confirmed cases in Ghana.