Associate Professor Yaw Ampem Amoako, a distinguished infectious diseases specialist and researcher at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi (KNUST), has been appointed as the new Medical Director of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).

Prof. Amoako brings over a decade of high-level clinical, academic, and leadership experience to the role. Prior to his appointment, he served as an Associate Professor at the Department of Medicine, School of Medicine and Dentistry, KNUST, and as a Senior Specialist Infectious Diseases Physician at KATH’s Ward D4. He is also a principal research scientist at the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), where he leads a network of clinics specializing in neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).

A legacy of clinical excellence and global research

A key figure in West African medicine, Prof. Amoako’s research footprint spans skin-NTDs, clinical trials, and non-communicable disease co-morbidities. His academic output includes milestone contributions to global health:

• Buruli Ulcer Innovations: Prof. Amoako served as a investigator on landmark international clinical trials, including WHO-backed studies, BURULIRIFDACC, and BURULINOX, which successfully transitioned Buruli ulcer treatment from injectable therapies to fully oral antibiotic regimens.
• Epidemiology and Outbreak Response: His extensive research published across leading journals explores the transmission, clinical manifestations, and mapping of scabies, podoconiosis, yaws, and snakebite envenoming in endemic Ghanaian communities. Notably, in 2019, he led KCCR’s technical task force to investigate and manage a major scabies outbreak in the East Mamprusi Municipality.
• Chronic Disease Management: Beyond infectious threats, his works evaluate the rising burden of hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular risk factors within tropical medical settings, advocating for integrated care protocols within the Ghana Health Service.

Prof. Amoako completed his postgraduate fellowship in Internal Medicine with the West African College of Physicians in 2013, followed by advanced clinical exposure at the Groote Schuur Hospital, Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, and the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

For years, he has served as a pivotal resource person for medical education in Ghana, examining undergraduate students and mentoring resident physicians through the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons and the West African College of Physicians. He has routinely overseen tertiary medical emergency coverage across the middle belt of Ghana and advised national and international bodies, including the World Health Organization and Ghana's Ministry of Health, on disease control strategies.