Professor John Owusu Gyapong, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), Ho, has been appointed the next Secretary-General of the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA).
Prof. Gyapong’s appointment was approved at the ARUA Board meeting at the University of Lagos on November 14, 2023.
He takes over from Professor Ernest Aryeetey when he (Professor Aryeetey) retires at the end of July 2024. Professor Gyapong is a Professor of Clinical Epidemiology.
He is currently a Visiting Professor at the Department of Global Health at Georgetown University, Washington DC. His main area of research is infectious disease epidemiology, especially neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), and malaria.
Prior to his appointment as Vice-Chancellor of UHAS, he was for five years the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research Innovation and Development, and Professor of Epidemiology and Disease Control at the University of Ghana and an Adjunct Professor of Global Health at Georgetown University in Washington.
Prof. Gyapong studied medicine at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana. He later pursued a Master of Science in Public Health in developing countries, and a PhD in Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London.
For over 30 years, he has practised as a doctor in Ghana, rising to become the Director of Research and Development of the Ghana Health Service, where he was responsible for Health Systems and Implementation Research.
He established and managed the Ghana Neglected Diseases Control Programme for eight years.
Prof. Gyapong is a fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons.
He is a member of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and the Ghana Medical Association.
He has served as chair/member of several World Health Organisation and other international and local scientific committees.
He currently chairs the Scientific Committee of the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) and the Ghana FDA Clinical Trials Technical Advisory Committee.
Prof. Gyapong contributes to global higher education and research dialogue through various platforms, and has over 150 publications in peer reviewed journals, more than 300 conference presentations and an edited book on Neglected Tropical Diseases in sub-Saharan Africa.
Inaugurated in Dakar in March 2015, ARUA is a network of universities from different countries and different historical backgrounds, but with a common vision.
ARUA aims to enhance research and graduate training in member universities through a number of channels, including the setting up of Centres of Excellence (CoEs) to be hosted by member universities.
ARUA is intended to develop local research excellence through collaboration to find solutions to the development problems of Africa.
It is set to become a Pan-African network for bringing research and academic excellence to the fore throughout the region by developing strong and viable research universities. —GNA
