Desmond Omane Acheampong is 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 Fellowship at Center for Global Health/Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia, US. He is also an Adjunct Professor, School of Food Science and Engineering, Guangzhou Wushan Campus of SCUT, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, China.
Prof. Acheampong has had the opportunity to serve as acting Dean, and Vice-Dean prior to becoming the Dean. Also, he has previously served as Head of Department, Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Allied Health Sciences, UCC.
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.
Desmond has successfully mentored/supervised a number of PhD and MPhil candidates in the areas of clinical microbiology, immunology and drug discovery. Most of his 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. His research interest has mainly been on Clinical Microbiology, Clinical Immunology (Cancer Immunology/Immunotherapy), Drug discovery studies (Natural Products) targeted at Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases and, Biomedical Entrepreneurship and Youth Enterprise development.
Prof. Acheampong has the following as his key research collaborators currently: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, UK; Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia, US; COPAN ITALIA, Brescia, Italy; 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. He is currently the Co-PI on the projects: Evaluation of Lollisponge as a self-sampling kit for non-invasive diagnosis of malaria and HIV, with funding from COPAN, ITALIA Group, Brescia, Italy; and Application of bioactive peptide supplementation for attenuating malnutrition in cancer patients, with funding from Guangdong Province International Science and Technology Cooperation Project (2022A0505050012), the Guangdong Provincial Natural Science Foundation Project (2023B1515040029), and the “Belt and Road” Foreign Experts Innovative and Talent Exchange Project (DL2022163004L), China.
As an academic, Desmond 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.
Desmond 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).