By Contributing Writer
MONROVIA – An intellectual property matter is brewing at the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) where the name of one of Africa’s foremost accomplished scientists and inventor, Dr. Dougbeh Chris Nyan, has been wrongfully removed as senior author from a study project and manuscript he initiated for publication of scientific data and public health work he conceived and directed during his leadership tenure at the NPHIL. Dr. Nyan’s name as senior author has been replaced with the name of the current Officer-in-Charge, “SW Camanor (Sia W. Camanor),” who was not at the NPHIL when the studies and public health work were conducted, and made no contribution to the scientific work.
According to standards and publication guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the NPHIL, a person must have made substantial contribution to a work or studies to earn placement as co-author on a publication.
The manuscript entitled, “Epidemiological and Clinical Characteristics of Mpox Cases in Liberia, 2017 – 2025,” previously carried Emmanuel Dwalu as first author, several co-authors, and Dr. Nyan’s name (DC Nyan) as senior author, but which is now replaced with SW Camanor as “senior author,” thus pointing to gross violation of publication ethics. The senior author is usually listed last.
Other listed co-authors include, Bode I. Shobayo, Ralph W. Jetoh, F Tarweh, N Candy, LM Sanvee-Blebo, P Adewuyi, T Dieula, and Julius Gilayeneh. Some co-authors who were contacted declined to speak on the matter.
Records demonstrate that Dr. Sia Camanor had no duties at the NPHIL when the studies were conducted and data generated between 2017 and 2025, and did not contribute to the studies to even warrant co-authorship. A search in scientific repositories including PubMed and Google Scholar showed that Camanor had never led a scientific or clinical study.
“This attitude constitutes a breach of ethics and sheer dishonesty for anyone who did not contribute to scientific work to be put on a publication as senior author; but it seems that this is how some of these doctors do things in the medical community here in Liberia, with patronage,” Dr. Nyan said.
In two separate email communications addressed to Dwalu and co-authors in March and June 2026, Dr. Nyan requested that the corrections be made to properly list his name at the senior author position as supported by his conception of the project, substantial scientific contribution and overall senior leadership, but got a push back on grounds that a “political decision” was made to replace him [DC Nyan] with SW Camanor as senior author.
Additionally, there are other names that made substantial contributions to the work, but their names were omitted, not credited, and must be added, Dr. Nyan insisted. During Africa CDC meetings held in Addis Abba and AbuJa, Dr. Nyan held discussions with other researchers like Dr. Chukwuma of AFENET for a publication workshop for the NPHIL that would help review materials and data, and strengthen the manuscript for publication.
Reports suggest that Camanor, a pediatrician who worked with a concession company in Guinea up to about November 2025, was never involved with these scientific studies at the NPHIL, but now occupies an administrative role as Officer-in-Charge at Liberia’s public health institute. According to the ICMJE Guidelines, administrative position is not a qualification for being included as co-author or senior author on a scientific paper, as this constitutes an ethical violation.
“My interest is to set the record straight, and this exposes the level of unprofessionalism, mediocrity, and dishonesty that is pervasive in the medical system in this country [Liberia] among some doctors; names are randomly placed on publications even if those persons did not scientifically contribute to the work; this is wrong and must be address to safeguard the integrity of science in Liberia now and for future generations,” Dr. Nyan added.
According to well-documented meeting records, Dwalu agreed that Dr. Nyan, as Director General of NPHIL, conceived the project, and commissioned the studies and analysis of public health and scientific data of Monkeypox virus (Mpox) detection during the outbreak occurring from 2017 through 2025. In a recent meeting held to discuss the issues, he [Dwalu] indicated that Camanor’s name was placed on the manuscript and made “senior author” through “some political considerations.”
This publication issue further raises questions of integrity as Sia Camanor was among NPHIL Board members that signed an “illegal” resolution in violation of the NPHIL Act and misled President Joseph Baokai to unlawfully terminate Dr. Nyan’s position at the NPHIL in at the end of 2025. The NPHIL Board was never reprimanded for misleading the President as the Supreme Court found no evidence in the Board’s resolution and affidavits by Minister of Health Louise Kpoto and NPHIL Board Chairman, Stephen Kennedy.
The Supreme Court ruled in favour of Dr. Nyan in a landmark judgment against the Executive Branch of Government for wrongful termination and violation of due process, and ordered his immediate reinstatement or compensation for the remainder of his five-year tenure. The Liberian government has yet to respond to the Supreme Court Ruling and has maintained a protracted silence in disrespect of the Supreme Court Ruling.
“I had wanted to let go this authorship issue. But, on second thought, I reconsidered my decision so as not to promote ethical violation or be intellectually victimized by a ‘Monkey works, Bamboo draws’ system,” Dr. Nyan mentioned.
Dr. Nyan is a globally renowned scientist who invented the NYAN-TEST, a rapid multiplex isothermal amplification test that detects multiple infections in 10 – 40 minutes. The test has been awarded three US patents and with numerous publications in well recognized peer-review scientific journals including Nature, Clinical Infectious Diseases, the International Journal of Infectious Disease, and Emerging Infectious Diseases, among others.
As Director General of the NPHIL, Dr. Nyan successful led the response against Mpox outbreak and concurrently against Lassa and Measles outbreaks in Liberia. Nyan conceived a genomic project and led a team of young scientists that discovered and characterized the Mpox Clade IIa in Liberia, more than 50 years since the first Monkeypox virus was detected in Liberia around 1970. He improved the NPHIL to heights of being designated as a Regional Center of Excellence by the Africa Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (Africa-CDC).
This authorship issues raised by Dr. Nyan, an accomplished biomedical scientist, has highlighted a grave ethical issue that opens up a discussion in the professional medical community in Liberia and the region.
