Professor John Owusu Gyapong is a Public Health Physician and an Epidemiologist.He was appointed Vice Chancellor of the University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana in August 2016. Prior to this, he was for five years, the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research Innovation and Development and Professor in Epidemiology and Disease Control at the University of Ghana. He is also an Adjunct Professor of International Health at the Georgetown University in Washington.
Education
He had his medical education at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana, and later pursued a Master of Science in Public Health in Developing Countries, and a PhD in Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London.
Work experience
He practised as a doctor in rural Ghana for 9 years including Kumasi, Navrongo, Dormaa Ahenkro and Bawku. During this period, he worked on the Ghana Vitamin A Supplementation Trials which were at the Navrongo Health Research Centre. He also headed the Paediatric Unit of the Navrongo War Memorial Hospital and occasionally acted as the District Director of Health Services. He was the Director of Research and Development of the Ghana Health Services for 12 years where he was responsible for health systems and implementation research. He has coordinated several large-scale field intervention studies in Ghana. He established and managed the Ghana Neglected Diseases Control Programme for 8years.
Science /Research output
Professor Gyapong’s main area of research is infectious disease epidemiology, especially lymphatic filariasis, other neglected tropical diseases and malaria. He established and managed the Ghana Neglected Diseases Control Programme for 8years. He has served as chair/member of several WHO NTD Committees. Currently, he is a member of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) of WHO-TDR. He serves on several international and local research review committees and boards including European Developing Country Clinical Trial Partnership (EDCTP) and Ghana FDA.