CHS interacts with University of Miami Research Group on Cancer Research
The Leadership of the KNUST College of Health Sciences (CHS) holds a meeting with delegation from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Science Research group of the University of Miami, Florida, on 14th of March 2025 to discuss a Memorandum of understanding with and expansion of research to the benefit of the College of Health Sciences and KNUST.
The project, which is funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) to the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, will use single-cell genomics to understand disease initiation in people of African ancestry. It will also increase the diversity of biological datasets used to study prostate, breast, and gynecological cancers.
During the meeting, the College of Health Sciences was represented by the Provost, Professor Christian Agyare, Professor Akwasi Antwi-Kusi (Dean of the School of Medical Sciences), Professor Benjamin O. Emikpe (Dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine), Professor Yaw Amo Wiafe (KNUST Faculty of Allied Health Sciences), Professor Nicholas Akinwale Titiloye (Head of KNUST Pathology Department).
Professor Titiloye, in his remarks, provided highlights of the research group's five-day visit to KNUST. He also detailed the facilities and interventions needed for the smooth deployment of the project in Ghana. Professor Titiloye revealed that the delegation from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Science Research group of the University of Miami will be assisting the KNUST Department of Pathology to set up new PhD / MPhil Programmes and support postgraduate research in the areas of Molecular Pathology and Cancer Genetics.
Dr. Sophia George, the Principal Investigator and a Molecular geneticist at Sylvester, part of the University of Miami School of Medicine, revealed that as part of the project, researchers will analyze samples of breast, prostate, uterine, ovarian and cervical tumors and normal tissue. She also stated that more than 3,200 normal and tumor samples will be collected across 20 sites in Africa, the Caribbean and the Miami region, home to a diverse population of individuals with African ancestry. The project will help ensure that Artificial Intelligence models are built on data representing the human population's diversity. She further revealed that the CZI-funded project will be setting up a cancer consortium to build capacity in cancer research, improve data collection and facilitate collaboration and networking. She concluded that the collaboration between KNUST and the University of Miami is still growing strongly with this exploit in research and academic exchange programmes.
Professor Christian Agyare, the Provost of the College of Health Sciences, welcomed the collaboration and affirmed the support of KNUST and the College to actualize the objectives of the project.
