Prof. Desmond Omane Acheampong is Associate Professor of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology at the Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Allied Health Sciences, University of Cape Coast (UCC), Ghana, and the Dean of the School of Allied Health Sciences, UCC. Desmond is a Fulbright Fellow, and had his Fulbright Scholars Fellowship at Center for Global Health/Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia. He is also an Adjunct Professor, School of Food Science and Engineering, Guangzhou Wushan Campus of SCUT, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, China.
Desmond holds BSc (Biological Sciences) from University of Cape Coast, Ghana; MSc (Clinical Microbiology) from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana; and PhD (Microbiological and Biochemical Pharmacy) from China Pharmaceutical University, China.
Prof. Acheampong has had the opportunity to serve as acting Dean (1st August-31st October, 2020), and Vice-Dean from August, 2019 to July, 2021 prior to becoming the Dean in August, 2021. Also, he has previously served as Head of Department, Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Allied Health Sciences, UCC, from August, 2017 to July, 2019. As Head of Department, he led the Department to develop two new post-graduate programmes; PhD/MPhil (Immunology and Immunotherapy) and PhD/MPhil (Epidemiology), and completed the accreditation process for the programme PhD/MPhil (Drug Discovery and Development). Again, Desmond initiated the review of the 'old' MPhil and PhD Parasitology to the 'new' MPhil and PhD Pathogen and Vector Biology, and submitted a revised curriculum of the BSc Biomedical Sciences programme for accreditation. Prof. Acheampong played a pivotal role as consultant in the development of the programmes: MPhil and PhD (Gene Therapy), and MPhil and PhD (Human Embryology) run by Thrivus Institute for Biomedical Science and Technology, Lashibi, Accra, Ghana. Desmond had the opportunity to serve as Examination Officer and Graduate Studies Coordinator at the same Department at the early stages of his academic career. Also, he was a Hall Tutor at Kwame Nkrumah Hall, UCC, between 2016 and 2018.
Desmond has successfully mentored/supervised a number of PhD and MPhil candidates in the areas of clinical microbiology, immunology and drug discovery. Most of these Mentees are currently working as Lecturers and Research Fellows at reputable Universities and Medical Research Centres. He has to his credit a patent for an immunotherapeutic agent he developed for cancer therapy. Also, he has authored two books in microbiology and immunology, a manual and policy brief on innovation and entrepreneurship. He has published over 80 scientific articles in the areas of microbiology, immunology and drug discovery in reputable journals. His research interest has mainly been on Clinical Microbiology, Clinical Immunology (Immunotherapy/Immunohaematology), Drug discovery studies (Natural Products) targeted at Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases and, Biomedical Entrepreneurship and Youth Enterprise development.
Prof. Acheampong has/had research collaboration with reputable international institutions such as Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, UK; Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia; COPAN ITALIA Brescia - Italy; National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, National Mie University, Japan; MS Intercollegiate Faculty of Toxicology Texas A&M University, College Station Texas, USA; BASF SE, Germany; School of Food Science and Engineering, Guangzhou Wushan Campus of SCUT, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, China; and Nkaarco Diagnostics Limited, Norwich, United Kingdom. Desmond has secured a number of research grants/supports for his research activities and graduate students training. He was the Lead-Partner for three projects under British Council sponsored Innovation for African University programme, between 2020 and 2023. Prof Acheampong has accumulated over $ 5 M as Awards/Grants/Research Supports for his research activities.
As an academic, Prof. Acheampong has served and continue to serve as External Examiner for PhD and MPhil theses from sister universities, and Assessor for promotion of academic senior members home and abroad. Additionally, he reviews grant proposals submitted to reputable institutions such as Medical Research Council (MRC), UK. and Medical Research Foundation (MRF), UK. Also, he is a member of a number of Scientific Advisory Committees for completed/running grants, including National Institute of Health (NIH) grants, US. Desmond serves as an Editorial Board Member/Associate Editor for a number of reputable journals.
Prof. Acheampong has served or continues to serve as chairman or member on a number of boards and committees at local (UCC), national and international levels. Notable among these committees/Boards are member, Governing Council, Thrivus Institute for Biomedical Science and Technology, Lashibi, Accra, Ghana; Chairman, Board of Governors, Dynamic Works Foundation, Accra, Ghana ; member, Official Blog of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) ‘‘The Sentinel”; member, Academic Board, UCC; member, Graduate Studies Board, UCC; member, Academic Planning and Management Committee, UCC; Member, Planning and Resource Committee, UCC; member, College of Health and Allied Sciences Board; UCC; member, Appointment and Promotion Committee, College of Health and Allied Sciences, UCC; Chairman, School of Allied Health Sciences Board, UCC; Chairman, Appointments and Promotions Committee, School of Allied Health Sciences, UCC; Chairman, Graduate Studies Committee, School of Allied Health Sciences, UCC; member, the ad-hoc committee that developed the university’s research agenda for 2023-2027, UCC; member, Academic Board's committee that reviews curricular of academic programmes due for accreditation or reaccreditation by Ghana Tertiary Education Council (GTEC), among others.
Prof. Acheampong is a member of the following Professional institutions/bodies/scientific groups; Fulbright Fellows Alumni Association, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), The Antibody Society (AS), International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID), Immunological Society of Ghana, WAHO-Infectious Research Group, Malaria GEN-Genomic Epidemiology Network and University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG).