An ultra-modern Higher Education Centre of Excellence (ACE) was officially inaugurated on Friday, November 8, at the University of Ghana in Accra.

The Education Minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, alongside the University of Ghana's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, international partners, and top management from Ghana’s premier university, gathered to commission the facility for the West African Genetic Medicine Centre.

The Centre, operating under the University of Ghana’s College of Health Sciences, focuses on three core areas: developing postgraduate programmes, conducting genetics research, and engaging with the community.

Since beginning operations in 2021, the Centre has become the first medical institution in Sub-Saharan Africa to offer an MSc in Genetic Counselling, providing specialized training in genetics knowledge and communication skills for patient care.

Additionally, the Centre has developed MPhil and PhD programmes in Medical Molecular Genetics. These programmes have been approved at the university level and are currently undergoing accreditation with the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission.

During the event, UG Vice-Chancellor Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo expressed her appreciation and enthusiasm for the new facility's role in advancing genetic medicine in the region.

She stated that the $1.5 million WAGMC building complex offers a 2,800-square-meter workspace, which includes a 220-square-meter open laboratory, a 200-seat auditorium, a biorepository, multiple smart classrooms, a genetic counseling clinic, a graduate room, a boardroom, as well as administrative and faculty offices.

She noted that this World Bank-sponsored project is fully equipped with modern facilities designed to support faculty, staff, and students in enhancing learning and research.

The VC described the building as a significant milestone toward achieving the Centre's vision of becoming a global hub for genomics training and research in Africa.

She noted that the Centre also offers short courses to provide continuous professional development to healthcare practitioners in genetics, including "Genetic Education and Counselling for Sickle Cell."

Other projects include Ghana-SPARCO, a collaboration between the University of Ghana and the University of Pittsburgh, aimed at sequencing genomes of children with Sickle Cell Disease.

Additionally, the Centre is running an industry-funded pilot project exploring the ethics of gene-based cures and patient immune responses to viral treatments for Sickle Cell Disease (SCD).

Since its inception, WAGMC has demonstrated a commitment to improving access to genetic health in Ghana through community engagement initiatives.

Prof. Aba Appiah Amfo disclosed that in 2020, the Centre, in collaboration with Okyenhene Osagyefuo Nana Amoatia Ofori Panin, provided free genetic testing and screening for over 2,000 people in the Eastern Region.

Since then, it has expanded its free genetic screening and testing nationwide under the Ghanaian Genome (GhGenome) project, in partnership with various traditional leaders across the Greater Accra, Central, Ashanti, Volta, and Upper East Regions of Ghana.

Senior Program Manager of the Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence for Development Impact, Dr. Sylvia Chindime Mkandawire, commended Professor Solomon.

Dr. Chindime Mkandawire praised Prof. Ofori-Acquah and his team for their efforts, describing them as a remarkable leap forward in realizing the ACE Impact Project's vision of strengthening higher education and research across West Africa.

She noted that WAGMC's status as the world’s largest sickle cell disease study cohort highlights its potential to drive groundbreaking research and academic excellence.

She added that the modern facilities at the centre will enable students and researchers in genetic medicine to work with advanced technologies, fostering connections with the broader scientific community across Africa.

As the ACE Impact project approaches its conclusion in June 2025, institutional commitment to sustaining and enhancing these achievements becomes critical she said.

Soon after his address, Dr. Adutwum and Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo jointly unveiled the plague which was followed by a facility tour by the invited guests.