It is amazing how quickly a year goes by and how much can be accomplished in a year!

The Ghana Biomedical Convention (GBC) started as a dream just over four years ago at a conference in Vienna, Austria when two of its founding members, Dr. George Acquaah-Mensah and Samuel Kwofie, resolved to mobilize the Diasporan scientific community for capacity building. They established a listserv for informal interactions and planning among like-minded colleagues. They then contacted colleagues in Ghana who teamed up to organize a conference in Accra (GhanaBiomed2008) to bring the far-flung membership together for exchange with their West African counterparts. Based on the success of the first conference another conference was organized in 2009. As the effort gained momentum, two linked NGOs were formed. The first was incorporated as the Ghana Biomedical Convention. In the US, the Ghana Biomedical Research Network (GBRN) is a 501c non-profit organization whose role is to support the GBC, especially through fund raising, research collaborations, and student exchange. This past August a very successful Third Ghana Biomedical Convention was held in Accra.

The GBC has been gradually expanding its activities to include international and national advocacy for science, the Sponsor-A-Doctor program, which supports the training of medical officers and PhDs, and Plants-for-Health, an effort to tap local resources for health improvement. Student chapters have been formed at three public universities and some polytechnics in Ghana. Both NGOs have obtained corporate donations and the work to expand membership continues.

Plans are already underway to organize the fourth Ghana BioMedical Convention (GhanaBiomed 2011) from the 27th to the 29th of July, 2011 in Kumasi, Ghana. Under the theme:
“Harnessing Biomedical Science for National Development."”
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