Our newest member to the Ghansah lab is Mr Samuel Nyarko.
Samuel holds a BSc in Molecular Biology from the University of Cape Coast and just submitted his MPhil thesis in Molecular Biology at the University of Ghana (West African Centre for Cell Biology for Infectious Pathogens, WACCBIP). His MPhil research was focused on the genetic diversity of Cryptosporidium species in Ghana specifically accessing the expression and the variants (SNPs) of some putative virulent genes in some Ghanaian isolates of Cryptosporidium. This research was able to identify five major gene variations that could be associated with cryptosporidiosis disease virulence.
Samuel has experience in Cell culture and Molecular Biology techniques. His main focus is to study parasite-host interaction and the genetic determinants for parasite disease virulence. He hopes to obtain a PhD in Molecular Biology with a similar research focus to help reduce the burden of parasitic diseases in Ghana and Africa.Samuel joins the team to work on the project “Temporal strain structure and response to interventions in a high endemicity region of Plasmodium falciparum”. This project focuses on the two-way interaction between the epidemiology and P. falciparum diversity from the perspective of the multigene and highly recombinant family known as var.