Ohene Kwaku Opare-Sem

Faculty Biography

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. NAME Opare-Sem, Ohene Kwaku POSITION TITLE Associate Professor of Medicine Consultant Haematologist  INSTITUTION AND LOCATION DEGREE (if applicable) MM/YY FIELD OF STUDY Kwame Nkrumah University B.Sc. 1984 Human Biology University of Nottingham B.Med.Sc 1986 Physiology/Pharmacology Columbia Univ. College of Physicians & Surgeons ABIM 1994 Internal Medicine Univ of Med. & Dentistry of New Jersey ABIM 1997 Haematology/Oncology Haggai Institute Cert. 2006 Advanced Leadership A. Personal Statement I have, over the past 10 years, through institutional collaborations mentored both undergraduate and clinical Postgraduate trainees from University of Michigan, University of Utah, The University of Hamburg, among others in Internal Medicine, Haematology /Oncology . I established and led work at our Viral Hepatitis Deferred Donor Clinic for the past 15 years My main interests have been in the clinical areas of Chronic Hepatitis B infections, Nucleic Acid Testing in Pre-Donation Screening Transfusion Medicine, and using platelet flow cytometry as a marker for platelet activation. My clinical work involves the treatment of a wide range of malignacies and haematological disorders. However, I have a keen and still growing, interest in medical education and lately Open Educational Resource (OER) in the health sciences that has culminated in my appointment as the Coordinator for OER activities in the College of Health Sciences. This has involved the drafting of a university wide policy, designing and operating an OER production/publishing system. I have mentored students at all levels, recently serving as a mentor for students in the Minority Health International Research Training Program. I am pleased to colloborate in this HBV study B. Positions and Honors Positions and Employment 1988-1991 House/Medical Officer, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Ghana 1989-1991 Assistant Lecturer, School of Medical Sciences, Univ. of Science and Technology, Ghana 1991-1994 Resident Physician, Columbia Univ. College of Physicians and Surgeons at Harlem Hospital Hospital Centre, New York 1994-1997 Fellow, Divisions of Haematology and Oncology, Robert Wood Johnson Univ. Hospital and Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Brunswick Other Experience and Professional Memberships 1991- Certificate, United States Medical Licensure Examinations 1993- Certificate, United States Federal Licensing Board 1994- Diplomate, American Board of Internal Medicine 1994- Member, American College of Physicians 1997- Diplomate, American Subspecialty Board of Hematology 2000- Fellow, American College of Physicians 2008- Fellow, Royal College of Physicians, UK C. Selected Peer-reviewed Publications Most relevant to the current application 1. Roberts, M., Opare-Sem, K. (1994) Acheampong J. The Diurnal Variation of Stroke in Ghana. Tropical Doctor, (24)155. 2. Rosenburg N., Murata M., Ikeda Y., Opare-Sem O., Zivelin A., Geffen E., Seligsohn U. (2002) The Frequent 5, 10-Methylene Tetrahydrofolate Reductase C677T Polymorphism is associated with a common haplotype in Whites, Japanese, and Africans. American Journal of Human Genetics, (70) 756-762. 3. Opare-Sem O., Owusu-Ofori S., Allain J-P. (2002) A novel approach to blood safety. Pre-donating screening of blood donors for viral markers. (Editorial) Africa Sanguine, (5)12-16. 4. Fischetti L., Opare-Sem O., Candotti D., Lee H., Allain J-P. (2004) Higher viral load may explain the dominance of CRF02_AG in the molecular epidemiology of HIV in Ghana. AIDS, (18) 1208-1210. 5. Fischetti L., Opare-Sem O., Candotti D., Sarkodie F., Lee H., Allain J-P. (2004) Molecular epidemiology of HIV in Ghana: Dominance of CRF02_AG. Journal of Medical Virology, (00)1-9. Additional recent publications of importance to the field (in chronological order) 1. Candotti D., Opare-Sem O., Rezvan H., Sarkodie F., Allain J-P. (2006) Molecular and serological characterization of hepatitis B virus in deferred Ghanaian blood donors with and without elevated alanine aminotransferase. Journal of Viral Hepatitis, (13)715-72. 2. Chengyao Li, Collini P., Danso K., Owusu-Ofori S., Dompreh A., Candotti D., Opare-Sem O., Allain J-P. (2006) GB virus C and HIV-1 RNA load in single virus and co-infected West African individuals. Aids, (20) 379-86. 3. Allain J-P., Sarkodie F., Candotti D., Opare-Sem O. (2005) Lack of correlation between hepatitis B surface antigen and hepatitis B virus DNA levels in blood donors. Transfusion, (45)1039-1040. 4. Allain J-P., Candotti D., Soldan K., Sarkodie F., Phelps B., Giachetti C., Yeboah F., Shyamala V., Anokwa M., Owusu-Ofori S., Opare-Sem O. (2003) The risk of hepatitis B virus infection by transfusion in Kumasi, Ghana. Blood, (101)2419-2425. 5. Evans D., Opare-Sem K., Kotoh S., Amon Kotei D. (1988) Is colorectal cancer risk increasing in Ghana? GMJ (22)8-16. D. Research Support None