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Prof Isaac Ayensu

 Professor Isaac Ayensu an alumnus of Mfantsipim School (Cape Coast) has been appointed on promotion to a Full Professor in Pharmaceutical Chemistry, the first by KNUST since 1988. In a letter dated June 24, 2024, and signed by the Registrar of KNUST, the University Council congratulated Professor Isaac Ayensu, having been appointed on promotion to a Full Professor effective 1st August, 2023.

He obtained his Bachelor of Pharmacy degree (First Class 2000) and MSc Pharmaceutical Analysis and Quality Control (2003) from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. He was appointed a lecturer at the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, KNUST (2003). He undertook PhD research under the prestigious Commonwealth Scholarship at the University of Greenwich from 2009 to 2012. Prof. Ayensu has enhanced his leadership capacity by having further studies at IDL, KNUST, graduating with Commonwealth Executive Masters in Public Administration (CEMPA) (2015). Prof Ayensu is a former three-time Head (2014-2017), Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, immediate past Head, of the Department of Herbal Medicine (2022) and he is currently back as Head of the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry till date.

Prof. Ayensu is the immediate past chairman of the Academic, Social and Research Pharmacists Association (ASRPA) and thus served as a member of the Governing Board of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (2019-2023). In addition, he is a Governing Board member of the Traditional Medicine Practice Council (2023 to date). He actively maintains his research interests and has published extensively, presented at several national and international conferences as well as a reviewer for several peer-reviewed international journals. Since returning to Ghana after obtaining a PhD degree in the UK and subsequent promotion to the position of Senior Lecturer (2013) and Associate Professor (2019), he has strongly pursued the establishment of links between Academia and Industry which has led to the improvement in the quality of training offered to PharmD, MPhil and PhD students.

Prof. Isaac Ayensu has helped to train an uncountable number of pharmacists, doctors, dentists, physician assistants, veterinary doctors, medical herbalists, pharmacologists and pharmaceutical analysts in Ghana, Nigeria and China. Since 2019, Prof. Ayensu has supervised and graduated seven (7) PhD candidates who are academics and leaders at various institutions in Ghana and abroad. He is a visiting professor at Madonna University (Nigeria) and to China Pharmaceutical University (Nanjing-China).

He is a Commonwealth Fellow (2017) and a recipient of Seeding Labs Instrumental Access Award (2018). The knowledge, skills and competencies developed through the fellowship are relevant to the Ghanaian Pharmaceutical Industry for enhancing their research and development (R&D) capacity and reinforcing the cordial relationship and collaborations that currently exist between academia and industry. His areas of expertise include; pharmacokinetics, bioavailability and stability evaluation of allopathic and plant medicines, pharmaceutical analysis, drug regulation and quality control, pharmaceutical and heavy metal contaminants in the environment, novel drug formulation and development and medicinal Chemistry.

Prof. Ayensu has used his extensive knowledge in medicine quality control to support the training of medical herbalists as well as traditional medicine practitioners to improve the quality of herbal products on the Market, here in Ghana. To this end, the quality of medicines produced are being enhanced to combat the menace of substandard medicines on the Ghanaian market which is on the increase and presents significant dangers to the health of vulnerable groups such as children and pregnant mothers. Prof. Ayensu is married to Mrs. Olivia Ayensu and the couple is blessed with four children. He is humbled by the mercy and goodness of God to him. To God be all the glory. He is very appreciative of the support of his wife and entire family, the current and past staff of the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and all his professors who guided and mentored him.