Draft:Yaw Bediako



Yaw Bediako, PhD is a Ghanaian immunologist and co-founder and CEO of Yemaachi Biotech, a biotech company based in Accra, Ghana building a cancer bio-database to incorporate African health data into R&D for cancer therapeutics.

Bediako is a specialist in cellular and molecular immunology, with a focus on understanding immune function concerning both infectious and non-communicable diseases, such as cancer, within African populations. He is credited with the development and implementation of the first national SARS-CoV-2 variant tracker on the continent, providing real-time visualization of viral variant distribution.

Bediako has a PhD in Immunology from Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, and subsequently undertook post-doctoral fellowships at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Programme in Kenya and at the Francis Crick Institute in London. He served on the faculty at the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) at the University of Ghana.

Yaw has published extensively in high-impact journals on topics ranging from cellular and molecular immunology, malaria and cancer.

In November 2021, Yaw was selected as a Calestous Juma Science Leadership Fellow by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Yaw is also a fellow of the Ghana Young Academy and an Affiliate member of the African Academy of Sciences. In January of 2023, he was selected as one of the 100 most influential Africans by the New African magazine.

Early Life and Education
Yaw grew up in Accra, Ghana. He obtained his undergraduate degree at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, USA, where he studied Biology/Biochemistry. After receiving his Ph.D. at Northwestern University, Bediako pursued a post-doctoral fellowship at the KEMRI – Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kilifi, Kenya. He then focused on Malaria Immunology, before shifting his focus to cancer immunology.

Research Career
After completing his PhD, Yaw worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme (Kilifi, Kenya) from 2013-2015. He then took up a second post-doctoral fellowship at the Francis Crick Institute (London, UK) where he worked from 2015-2019. In 2019 Yaw took up a faculty position at the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens- University of Ghana. In 2020, Yaw co-founded Yemaachi Biotech and has served as Chief Executive Officer since then.

Awards and Honours

 * Top 100 Most Influential Africans – New Africa Magazine,2022
 * Ghana top 40 under 40 award – Science, Technology, and Innovation, 2022
 * Calestous Juma Science Leadership Fellowship, 2021-2026
 * Open Society/ARUA – Capacity building Grant, 2021
 * Cambridge Alborada Grant, 2020 -2021
 * UCSF Global Cancer Program: Global Cancer Pilot, 2020 -2021
 * Academy of Medical Sciences- GCRF Networking Grant, 2019-2020
 * Crick African Network- Career Accelerator Award, 2019-2021
 * Royal Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2016 -2017