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Anitah Ghansah is a Ghanaian genetic epidemiologist and Associate Professor[1] at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research at the University of Ghana.[2] She is known for her contributions to bioinformatics training in Ghana and for advancing the genotyping of molecular markers of drug resistance.[3]. These led to policy changes in Ghana's approach to malaria treatment from chloroquine to artemisinin-based combination therapies.

In November 2021, Ghansah was selected as a Calestous Juma Science Leadership Fellow by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation [4]As part of the fellowship, she developed a cost-efficient malaria molecular surveillance system in Ghana, utilizing high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics to monitor key molecular markers of drug and diagnostic resistance in blood samples from malaria patients.

Education

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Ghansah received a B.Sc. in biochemistry from the University of Science and Technology, Ghana, in 1994, and a Master of Philosophy in biochemistry from the University of Ghana in 1999.In 2009, she earned her Ph.D. in Genetic Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London.

Following her Ph.D., Ghansah was appointed as a research fellow at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research[5], College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana. She later completed postdoctoral fellowships and became a faculty member at the University of Ghana-West African Center for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens.

Career and Research

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She was awarded the Exxon Mobil Scholar of Malaria in Ghana fellowship at the Harvard School of Public Health from 2011 to 2012,[6]and later received a Medical Research Council (MRC) Fellowship at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Ghana, from 2013 to 2014. In 2011, she also served as a visiting scientist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, MA, USA.

She was promoted to Senior Research Fellow at the University of Ghana-Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, where she worked from 2015 to 2023. During this time, she secured multiple grants, including two from the National Institute of Health (NIH). Her research focused on understanding the effect of eco-epidemiology on malaria drug resistance and promoting community engagement in biobanking and genomics. Concurrently, since 2017, She has held the position of Adjunct Research Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, MA, USA.

In November 2021, Ghansah was awarded the Calestous Juma Science Leadership Fellowship. She led a research team to monitor molecular markers of drug and diagnostic resistance in blood samples from malaria patients. Using high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics methods, the initiative aimed to generate country-wide surveillance data in near real-time. This data was used to support the National Malaria Control Program of Ghana in its strategies for malaria control and elimination.[7]

Awards and honours

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  • Calestous Juma Leadership Fellowship, 2021
  • Exxon Mobil Scholar of Malaria in Ghana, 2011-2012[8]

Publications

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  1. Ghansah A, Tiedje KE, Argyropoulos DC, Onwona CO, Deed SL, Labbé F, Oduro AR, Koram KA, Pascual M, Day KP. Comparison of molecular surveillance methods to assess changes in the population genetics of Plasmodium falciparum in high transmission. Front Parasitol. 2023;2. doi: 10.3389/fpara.2023.1067966. Epub 2023 Apr 3. PubMed PMID: 38031549; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10686283
  2. Boateng RA, Myers-Hansen JL, Dolling NNO, Mensah BA, Brodsky E, Mazumder M, Ghansah A. Global Analysis of Plasmodium falciparum Dihydropteroate Synthase Variants Associated with Sulfadoxine Resistance Reveals Variant Distribution and Mechanisms of Resistance: A Computational-Based Study. Molecules. 2022 Dec 24;28(1). doi: 10.3390/molecules28010145. PubMed PMID: 36615340; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9822128.
  3. Aydemir O, Mensah B, Marsh PW, Abuaku B, Myers-Hansen JL, Bailey JA, Ghansah A. Immediate pools of malaria infections at diagnosis combined with targeted deep sequencing accurately quantifies frequency of drug resistance mutations. PeerJ. 2021;9:e11794. doi: 10.7717/peerj.11794. eCollection 2021. PubMed PMID: 34820155; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8588852.
  4. Mensah BA, Myers-Hansen JL, Obeng Amoako E, Opoku M, Abuaku BK, Ghansah A. Prevalence and risk factors associated with asymptomatic malaria among school children: repeated cross-sectional surveys of school children in two ecological zones in Ghana. BMC Public Health. 2021 Sep 17;21(1):1697. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-11714-8. PubMed PMID: 34535112; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8447720.
  5. Ghansah A, Amenga-Etego L, Amambua-Ngwa A, Andagalu B, Apinjoh T, Bouyou-Akotet M, Cornelius V, Golassa L, Andrianaranjaka VH, Ishengoma D, Johnson K, Kamau E, Maïga-Ascofaré O, Mumba D, Tindana P, Tshefu-Kitoto A, Randrianarivelojosia M, William Y, Kwiatkowski DP, Djimde AA. Monitoring parasite diversity for malaria elimination in sub-Saharan Africa. Science. 2014 Sep 12;345(6202):1297-8. doi: 10.1126/science.1259423. PubMed PMID: 25214619; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4541720
  6. Myers-Hansen JL, Abuaku B, Oyebola MK, Mensah BA, Ahorlu C, Wilson MD, Awandare G, Koram KA, Ngwa AA, Ghansah A. Assessment of antimalarial drug resistant markers in asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum infections after 4 years of indoor residual spraying in Northern Ghana. PLoS One. 2020;15(12):e0233478. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0233478. eCollection 2020. PubMed PMID: 33284800; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7721464.
  7. Amegashie EA, Amenga-Etego L, Adobor C, Ogoti P, Mbogo K, Amambua-Ngwa A, Ghansah A. Population genetic analysis of the Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein in two distinct ecological regions in Ghana. Malar J. 2020 Nov 27;19(1):437. doi: 10.1186/s12936-020-03510-3. PubMed PMID: 33246470; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7694917.
  8. Mensah BA, Aydemir O, Myers-Hansen JL, Opoku M, Hathaway NJ, Marsh PW, Anto F, Bailey J, Abuaku B, Ghansah A. Antimalarial Drug Resistance Profiling of Plasmodium falciparum Infections in Ghana Using Molecular Inversion Probes and Next-Generation Sequencing. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2020 Mar 24;64(4). doi: 10.1128/AAC.01423-19. Print 2020 Mar 24. PubMed PMID: 31932374; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7179265.
  9. Ghansah A, Kamau E, Amambua-Ngwa A, Ishengoma DS, Maiga-Ascofare O, Amenga-Etego L, Deme A, Yavo W, Randrianarivelojosia M, Ochola-Oyier LI, Helegbe GK, Bailey J, Alifrangis M, Djimde A. Targeted Next Generation Sequencing for malaria research in Africa: current status and outlook. Malar J. 2019 Sep 23;18(1):324. doi: 10.1186/s12936-019-2944-2. PubMed PMID: 31547818; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6757370.
  10. Narh CA, Ghansah A, Duffy MF, Ruybal-Pesántez S, Onwona CO, Oduro AR, Koram KA, Day KP, Tiedje KE. Evolution of Antimalarial Drug Resistance Markers in the Reservoir of Plasmodium falciparum Infections in the Upper East Region of Ghana. J Infect Dis. 2020 Oct 13;222(10):1692-1701. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiaa286. PubMed PMID: 32459360; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7982568.
  11. Abuaku BK, Mensah BA, Ofori MF, Myers-Hansen J, Derkyi-Kwarteng AN, Essilfie F, Dokurugu M, Amoakoh E, Koram KA, Ghansah A. Efficacy of Artesunate/Amodiaquine in the Treatment of Uncomplicated Malaria among Children in Ghana. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2017 Sep;97(3):690-695. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.15-0826. Epub 2017 Jul 27. PubMed PMID: 28749762; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5590557.
  12. Brown CA, Pappoe-Ashong PJ, Duah N, Ghansah A, Asmah H, Afari E, Koram KA. High frequency of the Duffy-negative genotype and absence of Plasmodium vivax infections in Ghana. Malar J. 2021 Feb 17;20(1):99. doi: 10.1186/s12936-021-03618-0. PubMed PMID: 33596926; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7888148.
  13. Ghansah A, Rockett KA, Clark TG, Wilson MD, Koram KA, Oduro AR, Amenga-Etego L, Anyorigiya T, Hodgson A, Milligan P, Rogers WO, Kwiatkowski DP. Haplotype analyses of haemoglobin C and haemoglobin S and the dynamics of the evolutionary response to malaria in Kassena-Nankana District of Ghana. PLoS One. 2012;7(4):e34565. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0034565. Epub 2012 Apr 10. PubMed PMID: 22506028; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3323552.
  14. Fry AE, Ghansa A, Small KS, Palma A, Auburn S, Diakite M, Green A, Campino S, Teo YY, Clark TG, Jeffreys AE, Wilson J, Jallow M, Sisay-Joof F, Pinder M, Griffiths MJ, Peshu N, Williams TN, Newton CR, Marsh K, Molyneux ME, Taylor TE, Koram KA, Oduro AR, Rogers WO, Rockett KA, Sabeti PC, Kwiatkowski DP. Positive selection of a CD36 nonsense variant in sub-Saharan Africa, but no association with severe malaria phenotypes. Hum Mol Genet. 2009 Jul 15;18(14):2683-92. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddp192. Epub 2009 Apr 29. PubMed PMID: 19403559; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2701331.
  15. Duah NO, Wilson MD, Ghansah A, Abuaku B, Edoh D, Quashie NB, Koram KA. Mutations in Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter and multidrug resistance genes, and treatment outcomes in Ghanaian children with uncomplicated malaria. J Trop Pediatr. 2007 Feb;53(1):27-31. doi: 10.1093/tropej/fml076. Epub 2006 Dec 10. PubMed PMID: 17158810.

References

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  1. ^ "Anita Ghansah". gcgh.grandchallenges.org. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
  2. ^ "2 Ghanaian scientists selected for prestigious Calestous Juma Science Leadership Fellowship". 2021-11-11. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
  3. ^ Ghansah, Anita; Amenga-Etego, Lucas; Amambua-Ngwa, Alfred; Andagalu, Ben; Apinjoh, Tobias; Bouyou-Akotet, Marielle; Cornelius, Victoria; Golassa, Lemu; Andrianaranjaka, Voahangy Hanitriniaina; Ishengoma, Deus; Johnson, Kimberly; Kamau, Edwin; Maïga-Ascofaré, Oumou; Mumba, Dieudonne; Tindana, Paulina (2014-09-12). "Monitoring parasite diversity for malaria elimination in sub-Saharan Africa". Science. 345 (6202): 1297–1298. doi:10.1126/science.1259423. PMC 4541720. PMID 25214619.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: PMC format (link)
  4. ^ https://mesamalaria.org/mesa-track/rapid-clinical-sampling-pooling-and-targeted-deep-sequencing-malaria-parasites-novel/
  5. ^ "Anita Ghansah". gcgh.grandchallenges.org. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
  6. ^ "Profile of Dr. Anita Ghansah – Defeating Malaria". defeatingmalaria.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
  7. ^ "Two Ghanaian Scientists Win Leadership Fellowship Programme". DailyGuide Network. 2021-11-10. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
  8. ^ "Profile of Dr. Anita Ghansah – Defeating Malaria". defeatingmalaria.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
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