Alexander Kwarteng

Profile

Alexander Kwarteng is Lecturer at the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KCCR) Ghana and a Research Fellow at the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), Ghana. He holds a PhD in Molecular Biomedicine (Infectious Disease/Immunology) from University of Bonn, Germany and held a post-doctoral position at KCCR, Ghana.

His research seeks to elucidate the immune response and molecular mechanisms underlying diseases of poverty including human filarial infections. By extension, he seek to understand the complex host-parasite interaction and molecular underpinning behind the complications people suffering from filarial infections present with.
His research team develops and promotes the use of innovative strategies to alleviate the pain and psychological burden among people suffering from lymphedema (elephantiasis) and hydrocele such as promoting foot and personal hygiene. Alex is doing this using an interdisciplinary approach and a cultural perspective, to fight social stigmatization and depressive mental illness in LF endemic communities in Ghana. In recent years, his research interest has expanded to include computational immunology and emerging infectious diseases. Alex’s research was recently recognized by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), where he was selected as the Global Scholar in Human and the Microbiome Program.