I am a DAAD PhD Scholar in Microbiology at the University of Hamburg, conducting my doctoral research within the One Health Bacteriology group at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM). I also serve as Assistant Lecturer at Accra Technical University, where I completed my BTech in Clinical Biochemistry.
I am broadly interested in leveraging genomic epidemiology and environmental surveillance to mitigate the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the Global South. My work focuses on transitioning from cross-sectional snapshots of resistance to longitudinal, data-driven surveillance systems.
By integrating whole-genome sequencing (WGS), phylogeographic modelling with BEAST, and community behavioural assessments, I aim to identify persistent environmental hotspots and develop targeted public-health interventions that break the cycle of environmental transmission.
I am an expert in microbial genomics and bioinformatics (pyseer, BEAST, R, command-line) and I maintain open-source repositories for genomic-assembly pipelines and GWAS data visualisation. I am also a Microbiology Society Champion.
A snapshot of research, teaching, and mentorship to date.
Three overlapping threads run through my work — the molecular epidemiology of WHO priority pathogens, environmental & wastewater surveillance for AMR, and computational tooling that makes genomic surveillance possible in low-resource settings.
Whole-genome epidemiology of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and the wider ESKAPEE group, with a focus on plasmid-borne and mutation-driven resistance across West Africa.
Building spatio-temporally indexed biobanks from urban and rural wastewater, and coupling LC-MS/MS antibiotic-residue data with genomic surveillance to map dynamic AMR hotspots in the Ashanti Region.
Bacterial GWAS with pyseer on multi-thousand-genome datasets, phylogeographic reconstruction with BEAST, and reproducible R / command-line pipelines for assembly, typing, and lineage assignment.
First-author and contributing publications in microbial genomics, AMR surveillance, and infectious-disease epidemiology.
Status: PhD Candidate · Funding: DAAD Scholarship. Supervisors: Dr. Denise Dekker (BNITM) & Prof. Wolfgang Streit (UHH). Doctoral project: Genomic Surveillance of AMR WHO Priority Pathogens in the Ashanti Region.
Four-month intensive German language programme (1 June — 1 October 2026), running in parallel with the doctoral programme.
GPA 3.75 / 4.00. Honours: ANSO Scholarship for Young Talents. Thesis on Vibrio parahaemolyticus quorum-sensing and bacterial GWAS with pyseer.
GPA 3.90 / 5.00. Honours: TEST4Ghana Scholarship. Undergraduate research (with Noguchi Memorial Institute) on the molecular epidemiology of Hookworm infections in the Brong Ahafo region.
As Assistant Lecturer at Accra Technical University, teaching across BTech and Higher National Diploma (HND) programmes.
I offer targeted mentorship and academic services for students and early-career researchers navigating graduate school, scholarships, and their first steps in genomic research.
One-to-one guidance for applicants targeting competitive scholarships and graduate programs, including DAAD, ANSO, Chinese Government, Commonwealth, and EU-funded PhD schemes. I share the strategy and framing that worked for my own DAAD PhD and ANSO MSc journeys.
Structured, line-by-line editorial feedback on the documents that decide most applications: personal statements, statements of purpose, motivation letters, research proposals, and academic CVs.
Hands-on introductory mentorship for students entering microbial genomics: assembly pipelines, AMR profiling, GWAS with pyseer, phylogeography with BEAST, and reproducible R workflows.
Coaching for first-author manuscripts, thesis chapters, and conference abstracts — from framing the story to responding to reviewers, drawing on my own experience publishing in Scientific Reports, BMC Genomics, and Archives of Microbiology.
Tell me a little about what you're working on and which service you're interested in. I typically reply within a few working days.
A working list of essays I plan to publish over the coming months — field notes on graduate school, genomic surveillance, and building research infrastructure between Hamburg and Accra.
A structural walk-through of the personal statement behind my DAAD PhD application — what I kept, what I cut, and the edits that changed everything.
Draft in progressWhat a bacterial GWAS actually is, why k-mers are useful, and a copy-pasteable pyseer workflow for your first analysis.
Draft in progressWhat it's like to start a doctoral project split between Hamburg and Accra — logistics, culture shock, and pipetting across time zones.
Draft in progressWant to be notified when the first essay goes live? Drop a note via the consultation form.
A small photo journal — moments from graduation ceremonies, supervisors, cohort mates, and the buildings that shaped the last few years. More entries will be added as the PhD unfolds between Hamburg, Göttingen, and Accra.
A YouTube channel with short lecture recordings and hands-on tutorials for students and early-career researchers is in the works. Provisional topics below — first episodes planned to drop through 2026.
Companion to my ATU lectures · Coming to YouTube
Hands-on tutorial · Coming to YouTube
Mentorship series · Coming to YouTube
Workshops, invited talks, and short courses I have delivered or am scheduled to deliver.
I'm open to research collaborations in bacterial genomics, AMR surveillance, and infectious-disease epidemiology, and to speaking invitations at student-facing events across Africa and Europe.