WAGMC awarded grant to sequence genome DNA of children with sickle cell disease

The West African Genetic Medicine Centre (WAGMC) has been awarded a $3 million grant by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA, to sequence the whole genome DNA of children with sickle cell disease (SCD) in Ghana.

The grant was given to the Director of the Centre, Professor Fiifi Ofori-Acquah who doubles as the Dean of the School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences (SBAHS) at the College of Health Sciences at the University of Ghana.

The DNA sequencing studies will be performed on samples of participants enrolled in the Sickle Cell Disease Genomics of Africa (SickleGenAfrica) Network, an existing $5.4 million NIH project that his team has been working on since 2018.

In addition to the DNA sequencing, the new grant will fund other studies including genotyping of two polymorphic DNA repeat sequences in the promoter of the heme oxygenase-1 gene in a project entitled, “Therapeutics Targets of Acute Chest Syndrome”.

The Associate Professor of Medicine and Human Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh, Professor Fiifi Ofori-Acquah will work on this in collaboration with a team of SickleGenAfrica investigators including Director of the Ghana Institute of Clinical Genetics and Head of the Department of Hematology, Dr. Yvonne Dei-Adomakoh.

Other researchers are Prof. Edeghonghon Olayemi and Dr. Amma Benneh-Akwasi Kuma both of the Department of Hematology, Dr. Cathy Segbefia, Department of Child Health, Dr. Vivian Paintsil, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Dr. Ryan Minster, University of Pittsburgh, who will perform the bioinformatics analyses.

Prof. Solomon Ofori-Acquah is a world-renowned hematology scientist with a track record focused on sickle cell disease and genomics research.

Since 2004, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA has continuously funded his research beginning in leading universities in the world including Emory University and the University of Pittsburgh.

Till November 2019, Professor Ofori-Acquah has received thirteen NIH grants as Principal Investigator totaling over $ 25 million.

Prior to the DNA sequencing award, he obtained a $5.5 million grant for the SickleGenAfrica project, which is the largest single NIH grant received by the University of Ghana.