Alexander Yaw Debrah

Medical Diagnostics

About

Prof. Alexander Yaw Debrah is a Professor of Parasitology and Global Health. He holds PhD in Medical Parasitology from Bonn University/KNUST. He joined KNUST as a lecturer since 2007, and has held a number of positions at KNUST including Head of Department, Dean of Faculty of Allied Health Sciences and Acting Provost of the College of Health Sciences. He is the Chairman of the Graduate Committee of the College of Health Sciences, a member of the School of Graduate Studies Board and College of Health Sciences representative on the KNUST Academic Board.His research focus is on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) but his area of interest is in filariasis. Prof. Debrah has research collaborations with many international universities and research institutions including University of Bonn, Case Western Reserve University of Cleveland, University of Buea in Cameroon, The Task Force for Global Health in the US, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals among others. He has been involved in a number of research activities including being the Director of German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) funded TAKeOFF Consortium involving three African countries (Cameroon, Tanzania and Ghana) and two German institutions (Bonn University Hospital and Munich University). He has a number of research activities sponsored by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, European Commission, German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and German Research Foundation (DFG) among others. He has won grants to the tune of over 15 million euros.He has received a number of awards including German Paul-Ehrlich-Society for anti-infective therapy (“PEG”) and the German “Momento Research” Prize.He has held a number of National and International positions including the Chair of the Planning Committee of Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) of the American Society of Microbiology.Prof. Debrah has over 120 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Research Summary

(inferred from publications by AI)

The researcher's work is centered on infectious diseases, particularly parasitic infections such as lymphatic filariasis (lymphatic), malaria, and helminthiasis (mangonital). Their research has focused on innovative treatments like doxycycline, doxorubicin, 5-azacytidinylhyruprolin A, and plasminogen activator inhibitors. Key themes include clinical trials in immunohistochemistry, mobile health applications, and the application of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for parasitic disease detection. The researcher emphasizes their contributions to improving treatment efficacy, enhancing immunological understanding, and leveraging modern medical technologies like mobile devices for community-based infectious disease surveillance.

Research Themes

All (100 Papers)

Health Sciences (84 Papers)

Physical Sciences (2 Papers)

Life Sciences (14 Papers)

All Papers

Wolbachia endobacteria depletion by doxycycline as antifilarial therapy has macrofilaricidal activity in onchocerciasis: a randomized placebo-controlled study(2007)

Filariasis and lymphoedema(2009)

Filariasis in Africa—treatment challenges and prospects(2011)

Macrofilaricidal Activity and Amelioration of Lymphatic Pathology in Bancroftian Filariasis after 3 Weeks of Doxycycline Followed by Single-Dose Diethylcarbamazine(2009)

Doxycycline as a novel strategy against bancroftian filariasis?depletion of Wolbachia endosymbionts from Wuchereria bancrofti and stop of microfilaria production(2003)

A Randomized, Double-Blind Clinical Trial of a 3-Week Course of Doxycycline plus Albendazole and Ivermectin for the Treatment of Wuchereria bancrofti Infection(2006)

Doxycycline Improves Filarial Lymphedema Independent of Active Filarial Infection: A Randomized Controlled Trial(2012)

Macrofilaricidal effect of 4 weeks of treatment with doxycycline on Wuchereria bancrofti(2007)

Efficacy of 5-week doxycycline treatment on adult Onchocerca volvulus(2008)

Efficacy of 2- and 4-week rifampicin treatment on the Wolbachia of Onchocerca volvulus(2008)

Doxycycline Leads to Sterility and Enhanced Killing of FemaleOnchocerca volvulusWorms in an Area With Persistent Microfilaridermia After Repeated Ivermectin Treatment: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind Trial(2015)

Hyperreactive Onchocerciasis is Characterized by a Combination of Th17-Th2 Immune Responses and Reduced Regulatory T Cells(2015)

Plasma Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-A (VEGF-A) and VEGF-A Gene Polymorphism are Associated with Hydrocele Development in Lymphatic Filariasis(2007)

Developing a community-led SMS reporting tool for the rapid assessment of lymphatic filariasis morbidity burden: case studies from Malawi and Ghana(2015)

Reduction in Levels of Plasma Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-A and Improvement in Hydrocele Patients by Targeting Endosymbiotic Wolbachia sp. in Wuchereria bancrofti with Doxycycline(2009)

Elevated Adaptive Immune Responses Are Associated with Latent Infections of Wuchereria bancrofti(2012)

Onchocerciasis Control: Vision for the Future from a Ghanian perspective(2009)

Comparison of Doxycycline, Minocycline, Doxycycline plus Albendazole and Albendazole Alone in Their Efficacy against Onchocerciasis in a Randomized, Open-Label, Pilot Trial(2017)

The Efficacy of Doxycycline Treatment on Mansonella perstans Infection: An Open-Label, Randomized Trial in Ghana(2019)

Wuchereria bancrofti-infected individuals harbor distinct IL-10-producing regulatory B and T cell subsets which are affected by anti-filarial treatment(2019)

Epidemiology of Mansonella perstans in the middle belt of Ghana(2017)

An isothermal DNA amplification method for detection of Onchocerca volvulus infection in skin biopsies(2016)

Immunoepidemiological Profiling of Onchocerciasis Patients Reveals Associations with Microfilaria Loads and Ivermectin Intake on Both Individual and Community Levels(2014)

Podoconiosis – From known to unknown: Obstacles to tackle(2021)

Pathological manifestations in lymphatic filariasis correlate with lack of inhibitory properties of IgG4 antibodies on IgE-activated granulocytes(2017)

Comparison of Repeated Doses of Ivermectin Versus Ivermectin Plus Albendazole for the Treatment of Onchocerciasis: A Randomized, Open-label, Clinical Trial(2019)

Occurrence of Lymphatic Filariasis infection after 15 years of mass drug administration in two hotspot districts in the Upper East Region of Ghana(2022)

Assessment of microfilarial loads in the skin of onchocerciasis patients after treatment with different regimens of doxycycline plus ivermectin(2006)

Macrofilaricidal Activity inWuchereria bancroftiafter 2 Weeks Treatment with a Combination of Rifampicin plus Doxycycline(2011)

Frequent detection of worm movements in onchocercal nodules by ultrasonography(2005)

Newly acquired Onchocerca volvulus filariae after doxycycline treatment(2009)

Reliable and frequent detection of adult Wuchereria bancrofti in Ghanaian women by ultrasonography(2004)

The design and development of a multicentric protocol to investigate the impact of adjunctive doxycycline on the management of peripheral lymphoedema caused by lymphatic filariasis and podoconiosis(2020)

Evaluation of the diagnostic potential of urinary N-Acetyltyramine-O,β-glucuronide (NATOG) as diagnostic biomarker for Onchocerca volvulus infection(2016)

Transforming growth factor–β1 variant Leu10Pro is associated with both lack of microfilariae and differential microfilarial loads in the blood of persons infected with lymphatic filariasis(2011)

Validation of onchocerciasis biomarker N-acetyltyramine-O-glucuronide (NATOG)(2017)

Situational analysis of lymphatic filariasis morbidity in Ahanta West District of Ghana(2015)

Evaluation of the Diagnostic Performance of Onchocerca volvulus Linear Epitopes in a Peptide Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay(2018)

Distinct Immune Profiles of Exhausted Effector and Memory CD8+ T Cells in Individuals With Filarial Lymphedema(2021)

Filarial Lymphedema Patients Are Characterized by Exhausted CD4+ T Cells(2022)

Step towards elimination of Wuchereria bancrofti in Southwest Tanzania 10 years after mass drug administration with Albendazole and Ivermectin(2022)

Efficacy of Intensified Hygiene Measures with or without the Addition of Doxycycline in the Management of Filarial Lymphedema: A Randomized Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial in Tanzania(2024)

Adherence to Hygiene Protocols and Doxycycline Therapy in Ameliorating Lymphatic Filariasis Morbidity in an Endemic Area Post-Interruption of Disease Transmission in Ghana(2024)

Wolbachia endobacteria depletion by doxycycline as antifilarial therapy has macrofilaricidal activity in onchocerciasis: a randomized placebo-controlled study(2008)

The role of ultrasonography in the differentiation of the various types of filaricele due to bancroftian filariasis(2010)

Reductions in microfilaridermia by repeated ivermectin treatment are associated with lower Plasmodium-specific Th17 immune responses in Onchocerca volvulus-infected individuals(2015)

Multimodal biomarker discovery for active Onchocerca volvulus infection(2021)

The viability of utilising phone-based text messages in data capture and reporting morbidities due to lymphatic Filariasis by community health workers: a qualitative study in Kilwa district, Tanzania(2022)

Filariasis research – from basic research to drug development and novel diagnostics, over a decade of research at the Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, Bonn, Germany(2023)

Increased HIV Incidence in Wuchereria bancrofti Microfilaria Positive Individuals in Tanzania(2023)

First genome-wide association study for lymphatic filariasis in a West African population points to a human leukocyte antigen-mediated disease pathophysiology(2023)

Stage-Dependent Increase of Systemic Immune Activation and CCR5+CD4+ T Cells in Filarial Driven Lymphedema in Ghana and Tanzania(2023)

Vector-borne helminthiases: a road map for current and future research to support control and elimination in sub-Saharan Africa(2025)

Effects of 6-week azithromycin treatment on the Wolbachia endobacteria of Onchocerca volvulus(2008)

Efficacy of 5-week doxycycline treatment on adult Onchocerca volvulus. Parasitol Res(2008)

Assessments of the transmission of Onchocerca volvulus by Simulium sanctipauli in the Upper Denkyira District, Ghana, and the intermittent disappearance of the vector(2015)

Immunohistological studies on neoplasms of female and maleOnchocerca volvulus: filarial origin and absence ofWolbachiafrom tumor cells(2010)

A qPCR to quantify Wolbachia from few Onchocerca volvulus microfilariae as a surrogate for adult worm histology in clinical trials of antiwolbachial drugs(2022)

Doxycycline Treatment of Mansonella perstans–Infected Individuals Affects Immune Cell Activation and Causes Long-term T-cell Polarization(2022)

Changes in circulating filarial antigen status in previously positive individuals: Lessons for treatment monitoring and pre-transmission assessment surveys(2025)

Robust COVID-19 Vaccine Responses Despite Filarial Co-Infection: Insights from a Lymphatic Filariasis Cohort in Ghana(2025)

Histopathological evaluation of Onchocerca volvulus nodules by microscopy and by digital image analysis for the study of macrofilaricidal drug efficacy(2023)

Doxycycline Reduces Plasma VEGF-C/sVEGFR-3 and Improves Pathology in Lymphatic Filariasis(2006)

Lymphatic Vascularisation and Involvement of Lyve-1+ Macrophages in the Human Onchocerca Nodule(2009)

Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the angiogenic and lymphangiogenic pathways are associated with lymphedema caused by Wuchereria bancrofti(2017)

Extracellular Onchocerca-derived small RNAs in host nodules and blood(2015)

Plasma-derived parasitic microRNAs have insufficient concentrations to be used as diagnostic biomarker for detection of Onchocerca volvulus infection or treatment monitoring using LNA-based RT-qPCR(2017)

Update on the biology and ecology of Culicoides species in the South-West region of Cameroon with implications on the transmission of Mansonella perstans(2019)

Diversity of Culicoides in the middle belt of Ghana with Implications on the transmission of Mansonella perstans; a molecular approach(2024)

Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein 2 diversity in Ghana(2020)

Acute Phase Responses Vary Between Children of HbAS and HbAA Genotypes During Plasmodium falciparum Infection(2021)

Plasma cytokine levels characterize disease pathogenesis and treatment response in tuberculosis patients(2022)

Impaired T-cell response to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) in tuberculosis patients is associated with high IL-6 plasma levels and normalizes early during anti-mycobacterial treatment(2023)

Effect of pulmonary tuberculosis on natural anticoagulant activity in therapy-naïve Ghanaian adults; a case-control study(2022)

Diminished Interleukin-7 receptor expression on T-cell subsets in tuberculosis patients(2023)

Monocyte pathology in human tuberculosis is due to plasma milieu changes and aberrant <scp>STAT</scp> signalling(2023)

Differences in PPD- and mitogen-induced T-cell activation marker expression characterize immunopathology in acute tuberculosis patients(2024)

Monocyte transcriptome signatures of inflammation and enhanced neutrophil recruitment characterize immunopathology in the blood of tuberculosis patients(2024)

Reference intervals for selected haematological and biochemical parameters among apparently healthy adults in different eco-geographical zones in Ghana(2021)

Seroprevalence and Risk Factors of Toxoplasma gondii Infection among Pregnant Women in Kumasi: A Cross-Sectional Study at a District-Level Hospital, Ghana(2021)

Seroprevalence and the associated risk factors of Toxoplasma gondii infection among pregnant women in the middle belt of Ghana(2019)

Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 in poorly controlled vs well controlled Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus patients: A case-control study in a district hospital in Ghana(2021)

Analysis of Mycobacterium ulcerans-specific T-cell cytokines for diagnosis of Buruli ulcer disease and as potential indicator for disease progression(2017)

Infection withMansonella perstansNematodes in Buruli Ulcer Patients, Ghana(2014)

Morbidity management and surveillance of lymphatic filariasis disease and acute dermatolymphangioadenitis attacks using a mobile phone-based tool by community health volunteers in Ghana(2020)

Reduced Type 2 Innate Lymphocyte Cell Frequencies in Patent Wuchereria bancrofti-Infected Individuals(2023)

Linear epitopes in Onchocerca volvulus vaccine candidate proteins and excretory‐secretory proteins(2018)

Performance evaluation of 3 serodiagnostic peptide epitopes and the derived multi-epitope peptide OvNMP-48 for detection of Onchocerca volvulus infection(2019)

Malaria, Urogenital Schistosomiasis, and Anaemia in Pregnant Ghanaian Women(2023)

Helminth Coinfections Modulate Disease Dynamics and Vaccination Success in the Era of Emerging Infectious Diseases(2025)

Helminth Seropositivity Inversely Correlated with Th1 and Th17 Cytokines and Severe COVID-19(2024)

Helminth Seropositivity Inversely Correlated with Th1 and Th17 Cytokines and Severe COVID-19(2025)

SARS-CoV-2 updates in a West African population and precautionary measures for sustaining quality antenatal care delivery(2020)

Haemato‐Urological Profile and Asymptomatic Urinary Tract Infection in Ghanaian Steady‐State Sickle Cell Disease Patients: A Case‐Control Study(2025)

BCG-Vaccinated Children with Contact to Tuberculosis Patients Show Delayed Conversion of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-Specific IFN-γ Release(2023)

Mhealth tools for community-based infectious disease surveillance in Africa: a scoping review protocol(2023)

Molecular Characterization of Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase: Do Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms Affect Hematological Parameters in HIV-Positive Patients?(2020)

Flow cytometric analysis of cell lineage and immune activation markers using minimal amounts of human whole blood—Field method for remote settings(2021)

Coagulation abnormalities in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: assessing the impact of L-asparaginase therapy in Ghana(2021)

Plasma levels of fibrinolytic and coagulation biomarkers in HIV‐infected individuals on highly active antiretroviral therapy: A case‐control study in a Northern Ghanaian population(2023)

Collaboration Network

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Research Collaboration Map

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About This Profile

This profile is generated from publicly available publication metadata and is intended for research discovery purposes. Themes, summaries, and trajectories are inferred computationally and may not capture the full scope of the lecturer's work. For authoritative information, please refer to the official KNUST profile.