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Yaw Bediako - Calestous Juma Fellow

Dr. Yaw Bediako

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Yemaachi Biotech

About Yaw

When the first vaccines to prevent COVID-19 were administered in 2021, the world saw the beginning of the end to the global pandemic. Yaw Bediako saw a rare real-world experiment unfolding in real time.

Yaw, an immunologist, had spent years trying to understand one question: "Why do the immune responses of people in Africa to vaccines seem to be different than people in other parts of the world?"

It's a hard problem to study because the vaccines used around the world typically vary by manufacturer and composition. The COVID-19 pandemic changed that when the same vaccines were injected into billions of arms across 200 countries.

"There's a lot we don't understand because there's been such a disparity in research. We probably know more about pathogens in lower-and middle-income countries than we know about the people," said Yaw.

These knowledge gaps about how different people's immune systems respond differently to diseases and treatments are why Yaw left academia in 2021 to launch Yemaachi Biotech, a drug discovery startup based in his native Accra, Ghana focusing on cancer and other diseases. Many diseases with large global burdens have barely been studied in Africa, so there is little understanding of how genetic differences may contribute to risk or immunity. Yaw hopes that Yemaachi will not only contribute to global drug discovery research, but also mark the beginning of a homegrown biotech industry that will power an Africa-funded R&D agenda that prioritizes the health needs of Africans.

Nearly all scientific research in Africa today is funded by external sources, which means African researchers can't always get support for the work they want to prioritize. Yaw believes the solution lies in building a sustainable private sector that can drive big investments into R&D while fueling the economy with new jobs and the creation of more startups, which could in turn stem the continent's brain drain.

But it's not easy being first. Startups in Africa received just 1.6% of global venture capital funds in 2023. Biotech startups are a tougher sell because of investors' unfamiliarity with the continent paired with longer timelines for potential returns.

"To solve our health problems, we must figure out how to have a health and life sciences industry that is driven from Africa and by Africa - and the time is now."

Key Publications

Cellular immune response to SARS-CoV-2 and clinical presentation in individuals exposed to endemic malaria

Published in Cell Reports

The African Cancer Atlas: Leveraging African data to diversify precision oncology

Published in American Association for Cancer Research

Grand Challenges Awards

Investigating the Immune Kinetics of COVID-19 Vaccine Responses Between European and African Populations

Initiative: Grand Challenges Global Call-to-Action
Challenge: Calestous Juma Science Leadership Fellowship
Learn More About This Award

October 20, 2021


Featured Photos and Videos

  • Calestous Juma Fellow - Yaw Bediako Lab shot
  • Calestous Juma Fellow - Yaw Bediako Lab shot

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