Emmanuel Timmy DONKOH

Dr Emmanuel Timmy Donkoh is a Senior Lecturer in Laboratory Medicine (Chemical Pathology and Molecular Diagnostics) and Head of Medical Laboratory Science at UENR, Sunyani, Ghana. He leads CeRAB’s Screen-and-Treat Research Group and is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at CCPTC, Catholic Hospital, Battor. He holds an AREF Research Development Fellowship at the Centre for Cervical Cancer Elimination and International HPV Reference Centre, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, and serves as IPVS Country Ambassador for Ghana.

He obtained an accelerated PhD in Chemical Pathology and Molecular Diagnostics from KNUST’s Department of Molecular Medicine under Professors Francis Agyemang-Yeboah and Edwin K. Wiredu. In 2017, he undertook postdoctoral research with Professor Ellis Owusu-Dabo on Ghana’s first cohort of HPV-vaccinated girls. He joined UENR in 2018 and led the establishment of Medical Laboratory Science as founding head.

His research centres on molecular diagnostics and screening for preventable, neglected and re-emerging diseases, particularly cervical cancer and female genital schistosomiasis in underserved populations. His approaches reduce reliance on clinic-based speculum examinations and centralised laboratories. Studies include community specimen collection and self-sampling, peer-supported screening for female sex workers, alumni-network delivery of concurrent HPV testing and visual inspection, and insurance-linked screening for teachers. Laboratory work includes a multiplex real-time PCR assay for high-risk HPV and Schistosoma haematobium and validation of point-of-care isothermal HPV assays for low-resource settings.

Community, clinical and laboratory partnerships across Ghana support this work, alongside funding from the National Institutes of Health (United States), National Institute for Health and Care Research (United Kingdom), United States Agency for International Development, African Research Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, American Association for Clinical Chemistry, Gates Foundation/IPVS and AREF.

Impact of Published Work

Dr Donkoh’s publications link molecular diagnostics, implementation research and primary-care epidemiology in Ghana. Multi-centre cervical precancer screening through Rotary’s “Protect Your Pearl” initiative, peer-educator models among female sex workers and insurance-linked screening for teachers provide evidence on reaching groups with low screening uptake. Assay development and bioassay proficiency studies strengthen laboratory capacity and address co-endemic conditions sharing specimen pathways.

Collaborative studies cover non-invasive, image-based detection of iron-deficiency anaemia, anaemia and dyslipidaemia among people with type-2 diabetes, and suboptimal blood-pressure and glycaemic control in primary care. This work informs cardiometabolic risk management.

The wider research programme has attracted grants exceeding US$200,000, including an NIH R01 under ADHINCRA, the AREF fellowship, an ARNTD seed grant and RSTMH support. It supports postgraduate and early-career training and co-authorship within the Screen-and-Treat group.

As IPVS Country Ambassador, he contributes to advocacy aligned with the WHO Global Strategy for the Elimination of Cervical Cancer, linking diagnostics, capacity strengthening and funded programmes addressing health challenges in Ghana and sub-Saharan Africa.