Biography:
Dr Asare is Biomedical Scientist with expertise in infectious and non-communicable diseases. He obtained his PhD degree from Nagasaki University, Japan. His PhD research led to the discovery of Plasmodium knowlesi Membrane Associated Histidine Rich Protein 2 (PkMAHRP2), which he used as a marker to establish the protein trafficking system employed by P. knowlesi. His characterization of the protein trafficking system in P. knowlesi has opened the field for drug and vaccine discovery in P. knowlesi infections. Dr Asare also employed genetic modification methods to develop a simplified strategy to adopt P. knowlesi into human erythrocytes in vitro culture to allow for a research study.
Dr Asare is also a Scholar fellow of the Global Health Innovation Fund (GHIT), where he discovered Plasmodium falciparum candidates for complement-based vaccine development. He is also a Scholar fellow of the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, Japan; a Scholar fellow of a Leadership program in Japan and a fellow of the Africa Research Excellence Fund (AREF).
Dr Asare obtained his BSc degree in Medical Laboratory Technology at UCC, Cape Coast, Ghana, in 2009. He was posted to St. Francis Xavier Hospital at Assin Foso in the Central region of Ghana as a National Service personnel as Laboratory Technologist. During his one-year service at the hospital, Dr Asare helped with the operation of the Clinical Biochemistry laboratory, HIV/AIDs laboratory, and Genetic disease testing laboratory. He trained the laboratory staff to operate the equipment in the facility. In 2014, he obtained his MPhil degree in parasitology at UCC before leaving for his PhD studies in Japan.
He was visiting researcher at Nagasaki University Institute of Tropical Medicine (NUITM) in Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) in 2015, a visiting researcher at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), United Kingdom, 2017 and visiting researcher at the Department of Protozoology, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, 2020.
He specialized in the genetic modification of malaria parasites, molecular characterization of protein trafficking systems in malaria parasites, drug discovery, and identification of vaccine candidates and vaccine designs in infectious diseases. His current work covers infectious research (including malaria immunology, antimalarial drug resistance, drug discovery, antimicrobial drug resistance epidemiology, Leishmania and microbiome studies) and non-communicable diseases (cardiovascular disease, Arthritis, hepatic encephalopathy, diabetes, and Hypertension).
Dr Asare serves as an academic editor, a guest editor and a review editor for several journals.
Teaching/Supervision:
Dr Asare lectures postgraduate students molecular and cellular basis of parasitic diseases, helminthology, scientific communication, research methods, biostatistics, and laboratory rotation. He has also supervised several postgraduate thesis and undergraduate projects. He has trained several students in infectious disease research.
Research:
Infectious and non-communicable diseases are a global threat to health and security. The management and control of these diseases require urgent attention. These cause persistent inequalities across age, gender, race, and geographical location. These underlying inequalities were exposed and amplified by the global outbreak of COVID-19. Infectious and non-communicable disease management faced complex, interconnected threats to the health, socioeconomic, political, and environmental well-being of public health. He believes that designing and implementing effective disease intervention strategies requires research to strengthen our understanding of factors contributing to the spread of the disease. He believes that research will provide a piece of informed information for the control of the disease. Dr Asare was motivated by the fact that researching infectious diseases could significantly contribute to disease management and control, and he acquired several pieces of training in infection research. He has attended several scientific meetings and conferences to disseminate his scientific findings.