The University of Cape Coast (UCC) has appointed Prof. David Teye Doku as the Director of the Directorate of Research Innovation and Consultancy (DRIC).

His appointment takes effect from August 1, 2022 and he will serve a term of three years. Currently the Deputy Director of DRIC, Prof. Doku holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Public Health with concentration in Epidemiology from the School of Health Sciences, Tampere University, Finland. He is an associate Professor of Public Health and Epidemiology at UCC, Ghana and a Docent (Adjunct Professor) in Public Health at the Tampere University, Finland.

 Research and Scholarly Outputs

Prof. Doku has eighty-seven (87) scientific publications in Scopus-indexed journals and over 30, 000 citations. This makes him first in UCC’s all-time list of contributors to our university rankings. Prof. Doku has over ten years of experience in academia. His H-index of thirty seven (37) is the highest any UCC scholar has on Scopus. He holds important editorial positions. He is an academic editor for the Plos One journal and an editor of the BMC Public Health.

Prof. Doku has supervised and examined several PhD theses both in Ghana and abroad. His main research interests include: Health Inequalities; Adolescent Health; Global Health; Maternal and Child Health; and Health Behaviours.

Awards                            

Prof. Doku has won a number of awards including: twice as Best Evolved Researcher of UCC (2016 and 2019); Co-supervisor of an Outstanding PhD Thesis, School of Graduate Studies, UCC (2016); and Outstanding doctoral student of the year (2010), School of Health Sciences, Tampere University, Finland.

Recently, Prof. Doku received five research excellence awards for his unique contribution to the sterling performance of UCC in the 2022 Times Higher Education World University Ranking (THE WUR) as the topmost ranked University in Ghana and West Africa, among the top 5 universities in Africa, among the top 350 universities in globally and 1st in research influence globally. Prof Doku’s five research excellence awards are: topmost scholar in UCC with nominal citations of papers all time (17335 citations); topmost scholar in UCC with nominal citations of papers from 2016-2020 (16365 citations); highest H-index of all time papers in UCC (H-index 33); 2nd in UCC in terms of the number of relevant papers (54 papers) in Scopus indexed journals from 2016 to 2020; 3rd in UCC in terms of the total number of relevant papers (84 papers) in Scopus indexed journals.

Together with other colleagues, Prof. Doku has won a number of external research and consultancy grants.

International Engagement and Networks

Prof. Doku has substantial international exposure and networks. He was part of a 12-member expert team invited by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to the Strategic Meeting on Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak in West Africa on Scaling up Contact Tracing in the three affected countries during the heat of the Ebola outbreak in 2014. Prof.  Doku has research and academic networks in several countries, including South Africa, Norway, Canada, USA, Germany, Sweden and Finland.

Prof. Doku brings considerable experience, scholarly acumen and extensive research collaboration networks to this role as the Director of DRIC. It is expected that his expertise will contribute to positioning DRIC to transform UCC into a leading research institution with world-wide acclaim.

About DRIC

The Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy (DRIC) was established in August 2013 following the promulgation of a research agenda for the University of Cape Coast for the period 2012 – 2017. The DRIC is a registered member of Ghana Association of Consultants (GAC. 0182).

DRIC envisions being a Research, Innovation and Consultancy Directorate that is strongly positioned, with a world-wide acclaim. Its mission is to oversee Consultancy Services engaged in by individuals and groups in the University; implement the University’s research agenda; and create conducive environment to nurture creativity and innovation.

Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC