Michael Owusu

Faculty Biography

Dr Michael Owusu is a Clinical Microbiologist and a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Medical Diagnostics, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. He also holds a Senior Research Fellowship position at the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine. He studied Medical Laboratory Technology at the undergraduate level and majored in Clinical Microbiology at the PhD level. Prior to his appointment at the University, he had worked as a Biomedical Scientist and Clinical Demonstrator at the Microbiology Department of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital for 10 years, where he engaged in the use of classical microbiological techniques for the identification of microbiological agents. His PhD thesis was in the area of human coronaviruses and its genetic diversity in Ghana. His Post-doctoral fellowship training was in the discovery of epidemic prone infectious agents in wildlife and other animal hosts. Dr Owusu has in-depth knowledge of molecular diagnostic methods. He is one of the lead scientists in virological diagnostics at the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine and has supported the testing and investigation of SARS-CoV-2 during the pandemics in Ghana.Dr Owusu is a fellow of the African Programme for Advanced Epidemiology training (APARET), European and Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) and the African Research Excellence Fund (AREF). He is also the Executive Director of the Centre for Health System Strengthening (cfhss.org); a non-governmental organization involved in supporting health systems. He is a leader and an administrator with passion in mentoring young scientists in academic and non-academic circles. His research interest is in the area of viral zoonosis,  epidemiology of microbial pathogens of public health significance, environmental surveillance of microbial agents and molecular evolution of viral organisms. Currently, he is collaborating with other scientists to conduct surveillance and sequencing of viral and bacterial agents in environmental water sources.Dr. Owusu has published 70 papers in peer-reviewed journals and contributed to 4 book chapters. He has served on over 30 committees of the University and the international community. He is a reviewer of high-impact journals including BMC Medicine, BMC infectious disease journal, Plos one, Plos Neglected Tropical Diseases and International Journal of Tropical Disease and Hygiene. He has recently been appointed as member of the Board of Reviewers of the American Society of Microbiology and Board Member of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.