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Since September 2024, she has been working at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory Grenoble (EMBL) as part of the .

This residency is offered within the framework of the memorandum of understanding signed by UNESCO and EMBL in 2022. Under this agreement, both partners undertake to promote equality, diversity and inclusiveness in science, notably by fostering the implementation of the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science adopted in November 2021, the UNESCO Recommendation on Science and Scientific Researchers adopted in November 2017 and EMBL’s programme, which runs from 2022 to 2026.

Infectious diseases remain a pressing global health issue, particularly in regions like Ghana, where the burden of diseases like malaria, HIV, and other viral infections is high. Understanding the molecular mechanisms behind these diseases is crucial to finding targeted solutions, especially as new challenges like drug resistance continue to emerge.

Maame Acquah’s research addresses these challenges by investigating the molecular basis of viral infections, particularly SARS-CoV-2. Her work explores how genetic factors in both the host and the virus contribute to disease progression, focusing on the African context.

After completing my master’s in molecular biology, I worked in both a research institute and a medical company, focusing on neglected tropical diseases and diagnostics, respectively. By 2020, I believed I had reached my peak as a molecular biologist, blending research and industry experience. However, when COVID-19 emerged, I leveraged my expertise to help establish a fully functional COVID-19 testing laboratory, from design to assay development. Despite this achievement, I felt limited in providing diagnostic solutions and wanted to contribute more deeply—understanding the virus, advancing treatments, and preparing for future pandemics. This drive led me to pursue a PhD in Molecular Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens, focusing on the Ghanaian perspective of COVID-19 infection and its implications for combating future viral outbreaks.

I have always been interested in understanding the “molecular basis of disease” before I even understood what this phrase meant. I particularly enjoyed biology classes during my high-school years and wanted to pursue this further. I enrolled in a Bachelor’s degree in biological sciences, and this was where I was introduced to molecular biology. I was fascinated at how everything was encoded in the DNA. My next goal was to understand disease at this level. What if we could treat illness at this level before it gets to the stage of physical interventions like surgery? After my first degree, I became teaching assistant for molecular biology and then pursued an MPhil in Molecular Biology; During this time, my understanding deepened, and for my thesis, I worked on animal rotaviruses. It was at this time that I realized I wanted to further explore infectious diseases, with a focus on viruses, as they seemed the smallest and yet the most complicated microorganisms that could rapidly cause devastating effects on a global scale.

Research in infectious disease is particularly relevant because we are a hub for a plethora of tropical diseases on this side of the continent. In addition, lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic showed us that we need a concerted effort to eliminate infectious diseases worldwide. Thus, understanding diseases on a genetic level and sharing research findings could lead to providing African-tailored solutions to global health problems.

My research objective is to determine the relationship between specific host genetic markers associated with viral entry and immune response and SARS-CoV-2 infection. To address this , I am employing a multidisciplinary approach using epidemiology, molecular biology, bioinformatics and immunology. Epidemiology to first understand disease, vaccination trends and epidemiological overlaps of COVID-19 with other diseases like malaria. Molecular biology, to investigate both humans and viruses at the sequence level. Bioinformatics, to predict protein-protein interactions between host and viruses and how these could impact disease severity; and immunology, to look at the presence and expression of some immune markers in COVID-19 and their contribution to symptomatic and non-symptomatic infection.

My main goal is to be able to translate some of my bioinformatic predictions to wet lab experiments, especially in protein expression and purification, for which the lead Professor has extensive expertise. I am excited to learn about CryoEM and its applications for structural biology, as well as many other techniques that I am new to in a structural biology laboratory.

I hope that my research will lay foundational knowledge in host-viral dynamics. This will allow us to understand the contribution of humans, at the molecular level, to viral infection, how the virus uses the host to its advantage, and propose ways of leveraging this information to improve future pandemic preparedness.