RHD STUDENT – AUSTRALIAN RED CROSS BLOOD SERVICE PROJECTS
PROJECT: Identifying novel red blood cell targets as a basis for development of biopharmaceuticals for treatment of infectious diseases
Sandra A. Sowah is a trained biochemist with research and teaching experience. She obtained her degree in biochemistry from the University of Ghana where she completed her Bachelor of Science and Master of Philosophy trainings respectively. She has also completed a short internship program at the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research in 2014, as part of their Next Generation Scientists program. There she worked mainly on establishing a degranulation assay.
For her master’s level dissertation, she evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube assay for detection of tuberculosis in contacts of TB patients. She has also worked on several projects in different fields, with particular focus on laboratory diagnosis of infectious diseases. Notably, she has profiled host immunological responses to recently discovered, differentially expressed Mycobacterium tuberculosis proteins from exposure to Mycobacterium tuberculosis to active TB disease in a case-contact study in Ghana.
Sandra’s research interests are:
- Laboratory diagnosis of infectious diseases
- Immunology of infectious diseases
- Vaccine development
Qualifications
BSc and MPhil in Biochemistry, University of Ghana.
