Samuel Fosu Gyasi

Prof. Samuel Fosu Gyasi is a Professor of Microbiology and Global Health and Dean of the School of Sciences at the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR). He earned a BSc in Biological Science from the Department of Theoretical and Applied Biology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), in 2000 and later pursued an MSc in Environmental Science in the same department. In 2009, he received research funding from the KNUST Vice-Chancellor’s Office to pursue a PhD in Microbiology, with part of his research conducted at the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research into Tropical Medicine (KCCR). He completed his PhD in 2013, having published four papers and participated in the World Health Organization’s Buruli Ulcer Initiative Programme in Geneva.

He also holds certificates in Global Health Research, Leadership and Management in Health Research, Monitoring and Evaluation in Global Health, and Introduction to Epidemiology in Global Health from the University of Washington, USA.

His research focuses on neglected tropical diseases, including Buruli ulcer, schistosomiasis and filariasis, as well as malaria, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), environmental health and global health. He has supervised more than 95 undergraduate research projects, several MPhil and PhD candidates, and has published over 30 peer-reviewed journal articles in addition to numerous conference papers.

In 2016, Prof. Gyasi received an award from the International Society for Neglected Tropical Diseases (ISNTD) in London in recognition of his work in WASH and Buruli ulcer. He is also a co-recipient of a PATH-funded project on healthcare utilisation following the introduction of the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi. The multi-institutional project involved UHAS, KNUST and the University of Cape Coast and was funded at approximately US$1 million over three years. In 2020, he also secured laboratory equipment worth about US$1 million through the Seeding Labs Instrumental Access Programme.

Prof. Gyasi has taught undergraduate and postgraduate students in three public universities since 2013. His teaching approach combines lectures, multimedia, practical sessions, outreach and fieldwork to promote critical thinking and analytical reasoning. He believes that every student can excel when individual learning needs are properly supported.

At UENR, he initiated the introduction of three undergraduate programmes: BSc Biological Science, BSc Medical Laboratory Science and BSc Nursing, serving a combined student population of about 1,500. He also contributed to the establishment of a clinical diagnostic laboratory, a fully equipped nursing skills laboratory, and a Class II biosafety infectious disease research laboratory, the Centre for Research in Applied Biology.