By Moses Zangar
MONROVIA – Acclaimed biomedical scientist and inventor, Dr. Dougbeh Christopher Nyan of Liberia has taken high technology science to the lower grade school level at a local school, the Matilda Newport Junior High School in Monrovia.
Dr. Nyan’s plan is to get Liberian students up-to-speed and interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), and has called on the government to “support science education for a better future.”
“STEM Education goes a long way in preparing a nation for the 4th Industrial Revolution,” Dr. Nyan wrote on his social media page.
In the past several weeks, the inventor and Liberia’s foremost infectious diseases scientist, Dr. Nyan, conducted week-long science experiments with 8th graders at the Newport Junior High School in Monrovia and the Monrovia College and Industrial Training School, his [Dr. Nyan’s] Alma mater. He was assisted by Lab Instructor Samuel Mollay, who is currently under the laboratory scientist mentorship of Dr. Nyan.
These recent experiments focused on plant germination stages as they relate to photosynthesis, soil type, nutrients, and environmental factors that influence a plant’s growth. The students were also taught how to design and follow the protocol of an experiment, which is a kind of standard operating procedure or a list of instructions for performing an experiment or study.
Dr. Nyan, the US-based Liberian scientist has spent the last few years as an unpaid volunteer lecturer at various universities, including medical schools in Liberia and Ghana. He has also taught science subjects at several high schools in Liberia.
It is important to note that the problem is not just a lack of proficiency among Liberian students; there is also a lack of interest in STEM fields among many students. Liberian schools currently lack equipped laboratories and strong teachers in STEM subjects.
Dr. Nyan is the Chief Medical and Scientific Officer of Shufflex Biomed, his start-up company developing rapid multiplex diagnostic tests for infectious diseases.
He is the inventor of the rapid multiplex diagnostic test (the NYAN-TEST) that detects and distinguishes 3 to 7 infections simultaneously in less than an hour. This groundbreaking technology has been granted three US Patents by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Dr. Nyan is scheduled to lecture and conduct seminar workshops for nursing, public health, and laboratory technicians at the Nimba University, Lofa Community College, and Tubman University in the coming weeks.
