Professor Frank Ekow Baiden is the Dean of the Fred N. Binka School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences. Prior to this appointment, he was an associate professor and Head of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Binka School.
Education
He earned his medical degree at the University of Ghana Medical School and obtained a PhD in Epidemiology & Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).
Work Experience
For many years, Prof. Baiden worked with the Ghana Health Service at the Navrongo and Kintampo Health Research Centres in Ghana, and with the World Health Organization (WHO) in East Africa. He has taught and examined public health courses in Ghana and other countries in the subregion. Between January 2018 and March 2022, he was a full-time member of faculty (from 2021 as Associate Professor) at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Based in Kambia in rural, northern Sierra Leone, he led field teams in various Ebola vaccine studies in collaboration with the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMAHS), University of Sierra Leone.
Research
Prof. Baiden’s areas of research include malaria, and emerging and neglected tropical diseases. Among his important contributions to global health has been work in Ghana and East Africa on the development of rectal artesunate as pre-referral drug for severely ill children living in hard-to-reach areas; the development of evidence on the use of test-based management of malaria and its incorporation into the Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses (IMCI); and WHO’s development of guidelines on the use of verbal autopsy.
Selected Recent Publications
He has authored over seventy publications in peer-reviewed journals. He is the lead author of the malaria chapter in the Oxford Textbook of Global Public Health. Select recent publications include:
1. Baiden F, Anto-Ocrah M, Adjei G, Gyaase S, Abebrese J, Punguyire D, Owusu-Agyei S, Moresky RT. Head Injury Prevalence in a Population of Injured Patients Seeking Care in Ghana, West Africa. Front Neurol. 2022 Jun 20;13:917294.
2. Baiden F, Fleck S, Leigh B, Ayieko P, Tindanbil D, Otieno T, Lawal B, Tehtor M, Rogers M, Odeny L, Hodges MH, Sonnie M, Samai M, Ishola D, Lowe B, Watson-Jones D, Greenwood B. Prevalence of malaria and helminth infections in rural communities in northern Sierra Leone, a baseline study to inform Ebola vaccine study protocols. PLoS One. 2022 Jul 6;17(7):e0270968.
3. Ishola D; EBOVAC-Salone Malaria Infection (MALI) Sub-Study Team. Asymptomatic Malaria Infection and the Immune Response to the 2-Dose Ad26.ZEBOV, MVA-BN-Filo Ebola Vaccine Regimen in Adults and Children. Clin Infect Dis. 2022 May 30:ciac209.
4. Chandramohan D, Fottrell E, Leitao J, Nichols E, Clark SJ, Alsokhn C, Cobos Munoz D, AbouZahr C, Di Pasquale A, Mswia R, Choi E, Baiden F, Thomas J, Lyatuu I, Li Z, Larbi-Debrah P, Chu Y, Cheburet S, Sankoh O, Mohamed Badr A, Fat DM, Setel P, Jakob R, de Savigny D. Estimating causes of death where there is no medical certification: evolution and state of the art of verbal autopsy. Glob Health Action. 2021 Oct 26;14(sup1):1982486.
5. Manno D, Ayieko P, Ishola D, Afolabi MO, Rogers B, Baiden F, Serry-Bangura A, Bah OM, Köhn B, Swaray I, Owusu-Kyei K, Otieno GT, Kowuor D, Tindanbil D, Smout E, Robinson C, Keshinro B, Foster J, Gallagher K, Lowe B, Douoguih M, Leigh B, Greenwood B, Watson-Jones D. Ebola Virus Glycoprotein IgG Seroprevalence in Community Previously Affected by Ebola, Sierra Leone. Emerg Infect Dis. 2022 Mar;28(3):734-738.
6. Ishola D, Manno D, Afolabi MO, Keshinro B, Bockstal V, Rogers B, Owusu-Kyei K, Serry-Bangura A, Swaray I, Lowe B, Kowuor D, Baiden F, Mooney T, Smout E, Köhn B, Otieno GT, Jusu M, Foster J, Samai M, Deen GF, Larson H, Lees S, Goldstein N, Gallagher KE, Gaddah A, Heerwegh D, Callendret B, Luhn K, Robinson C, Leyssen M, Greenwood B, Douoguih M, Leigh B, Watson-Jones D; EBL3001 study group. Safety and long-term immunogenicity of the two-dose heterologous Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo Ebola vaccine regimen in adults in Sierra Leone: a combined open-label, non-randomised stage 1, and a randomised, double-blind, controlled stage 2 trial. Lancet Infect Dis. 2022 Jan;22(1):97-109.
7. Afolabi MO, Ishola D, Manno D, Keshinro B, Bockstal V, Rogers B, Owusu-Kyei K, Serry-Bangura A, Swaray I, Lowe B, Kowuor D, Baiden F, Mooney T, Smout E, Köhn B, Otieno GT, Jusu M, Foster J, Samai M, Deen GF, Larson H, Lees S, Goldstein N, Gallagher KE, Gaddah A, Heerwegh D, Callendret B, Luhn K, Robinson C, Greenwood B, Leyssen M, Douoguih M, Leigh B, Watson-Jones D; EBL3001 study group. Safety and immunogenicity of the two-dose heterologous Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo Ebola vaccine regimen in children in Sierra Leone: a randomised, double-blind, controlled trial. Lancet Infect Dis. 2022 Jan;22(1):110-122.
