Dr. Mary Amoako (Nee Adjepong), a lecturer and Registered Dietician at the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology (Nutrition Unit), College of Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi has been selected as part of the 2022 cohort of the Organization for women in science for the developing world (OWSD) Early Career Fellowship Programme.
She receives USD 50,000 to lead research projects and establish research groups at KNUST that will attract international collaborators. During this three-year fellowship, she will receive specific training to build leadership and management skills and develop connections with a variety of public and private sector partners.
Dr. Mary Amoako’s research focuses on the role of diet in the progression of diet-related chronic diseases in vulnerable populations. For her OWSD fellowship, she has established partnerships with food scientists and a food company to produce biscuits that are rich in essential fatty acids and carotenoids to be incorporated into complementary food to improve growth, cognition and ocular health in Ghanaian children 2-5 year old in the Northern Ghana population.
The products developed will be scaled up and available in populations for its utilization as a complementary feeding product in Ghana. This innovative and sustainable approach can be adopted in other populations in Ghana and Africa to improve food security and improve healthy lives and livelihoods in developing countries.
Dr. Mary Amoako obtained a doctoral degree from Michigan State University, USA, an MPhil in Human Nutrition and Dietetics and a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry, all from KNUST. She has professional certification as a Registered Dietician from the Allied Health Professions Council Ghana.
She is a recipient of the Borlaug Higher Education in Agricultural Research Development (BHEARD) Ph.D. scholarship award and the Borlaug Leadership Enhancement in Agricultural Program (Borlaug LEAP) award, a $20,000 award for research, all from USAID. She is a founding member of the Ghana Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics where she serves as the committee member on the advocacy committee.
As a committee member of the KNUST Wellness Centre, she participates in a number of community engagements such as nutrition education on various platforms including national television. She is a member of the Women in Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (WiSTEM-Gh), Convention of Biomedical Research Ghana, Ghana Science Association and American Society of Nutrition.
