LIBERIA – Africa’s renowned infectious disease scientist and inventor, Dr. Dougbeh Christopher Nyan of Liberia, over the weekend received the 2022 ALPHA AWARD OF HONOR “for his groundbreaking work in infectious diseases research and public health advocacy” in Liberia, Africa, and the world. This award comes as a result of a thorough vetting of several nominated candidates by the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Liberia Chapter which runs an annual scholarship and award program.
Dr. Nyan invented a rapid diagnostic device that detects multiple infections in less than an hour using just one test. The NYAN-TEST, a rapid real-time multiplex isothermal detection method, has been awarded two US Patents within the past 7 years by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
This is a game-changing diagnostic test that targets such pathogens as Coronaviruses (COVID-19), HIV, Ebola, Malaria, Dengue, Hepatitis viruses, and many more. The test is specific, sensitive, and affordable and is designed for hard-to-reach areas.
During the Ebola outbreak of 2014, Dr. Nyan, the National Institutes of Health trained biomedical scientist, testified before the United States Congress and advanced proposals that were instrumental in the creation of the National Public Health Institute in Liberia and the African Center for Disease Control in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
As head of the Diaspora COVID-19 Focus Group, Dr. Nyan has carried out multiple COVID-19 pandemics public health community awareness and diagnostic activities in Liberia and other African, and in the United States as a member of the Medical Respond Corps of the State of Maryland.
As an unpaid visiting professor for the past four months since September this year, the German-trained doctor, Dr. Nyan, has been lecturing a semester-long course in public health and clinical microbiology at various Universities in Liberia at the College of Health Sciences and Public Health Departments of the United Methodist University, the African Methodist Episcopal University the Harbel College and the Noguchi Memorial Research Institute of the University of Ghana.
For the past semester, Dr. Nyan, the German-trained medical doctor has also been teaching high school-level biology at his Alma mater, the Monrovia College and Industrial Training School. He has won countless other awards for his inventions including the 2017 African Innovation Award Special Prize for Social Impact and the Ward Lifetime Achievement Award in Medicine and Science Research. He is the Chief Medical and Scientific Officer of his biotechnology start-up company, Shufflex Biomed which is estimated to be worth several million US Dollars.
