Data for Health in Africa Meeting
&
5th DS-I Africa Consortium Meeting
23 - 29 August 2025
CEDI Centre, University of Ghana, Accra

Prof Eric Sampane-Donkor - Participant

DS-ZOOFOOD: Application of Data Science to Build Research Capacity in Zoonoses and Foodborne Infections in West Africa (Contact-PI)

I am a Public Health Microbiologist, and currently the Chair of the Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Ghana Medical School (UGMS), and the Chair of the College of Health Sciences Research Board, University of Ghana. In the course of my 20-year career, I have mentored 8 junior faculty members and 50 postgraduate students in Ghana and abroad. With a background in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Immunology, Bioinformatics, Animal Microbiology, and Public Health, I have shaped my group's interests to be broad, applying concepts from several fields to address the peculiar infectious disease challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, such as zoonoses, food-borne infections, and antimicrobial resistance, through research. Our surveillance data on antimicrobial resistance have helped clinicians to review antibiotic treatment against several important bacterial pathogens in Ghana, thereby improving treatment outcomes in patients. For instance, a paper we published on antibiotic resistance of uropathogens in 2016 was the basis for changing ciprofloxacin to amikacin as prophylaxis among bladder outlet obstruction patients at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana. In the last five years, we have published over 50 peer-reviewed articles, and our data have been important in addressing some of the key public health issues in bacterial diseases in Ghana.