Kwamina Nyame

Kwamina was born and grew up at Aboso-Tarkwa in the Western Region of Ghana with priceless love, support and care from his parents, Frederick and Anastasia Nyame. His interest in chemistry, mathematics, and biology at Mfantsipim High School motivated him to develop a passion for biomedical research. He graduated from the University of Ghana with a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology. During his undergraduate studies, he led research efforts focused on the use of molecular tools to differentiate plantain varieties in Ghana due to their utility for biotechnology companies under the supervision of Professor Sammy Sackey. Moving forward, he was appointed as a research assistant at West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP), where he had the chance to work with Professor Gordon Awandare and other faculty members. At WACCBIP, he investigated the mechanisms involved in receptor-target interactions in Plasmodium falciparum and the generation of Mycobacterium smegmatis mutants. As a Stanford Biochemistry PhD student and a CBI fellow, Kwamina hopes to understand the mechanisms that lead to human diseases such as drug-resistant infections and cancer, and how these can be exploited to develop new drugs to effectively combat diseases using deeper knowledge in chemistry and biology as well as engineering and computational models. Outside research activities, Kwamina loves to volunteer and take leadership roles, motivate and mentor younger students as well as enjoy running, soccer, volleyball and music.