Dr. Sylvia Agyekum Awarded Prestigious TWAS Seed Grant for New African Principal Investigators (SG-NAPI)
Dr. Sylvia Agyekum, a lecturer in the Department of Optometry and Visual Science at the College of Science, KNUST, has been awarded the highly competitive Seed Grant for New African Principal Investigators (SG-NAPI) by UNESCO–TWAS, with support from the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR).
The SG-NAPI programme was established to strengthen scientific capacity in African countries that lag behind in science and technology. It supports outstanding early-career researchers who have completed doctoral training abroad and have recently returned to academic positions in their home countries, providing funding for high-level research across disciplines including medical sciences, biology, agriculture, chemistry, earth sciences, engineering, information and communication technology, mathematics and physics.
Under the award, Dr. Agyekum will establish a research programme focused on child eye health and ocular epidemiology in Ghana. Her project, The Ghana Children’s Eye Study, seeks to generate locally grounded evidence to reduce preventable visual impairment among children and improve long-term eye health outcomes, an area considered critical to public health planning and clinical practice in the country.
Dr. Agyekum is an optometrist and serves as Research Manager for the HM KNUST Low Vision Project, where she coordinates research activities while mentoring undergraduate and postgraduate students. She obtained her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 2023 from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Hong Kong SAR, China.
Her doctoral research focused on the sustainability of myopia control interventions in children, using cost-effectiveness analysis to examine both the economic and clinical implications of various management strategies. She also holds a Doctor of Optometry (OD) degree from KNUST, awarded in 2018, with a thesis on low vision service delivery by optometrists in Ghana.
Her research interests span children’s eye health, myopia, ocular epidemiology, low vision, ocular imaging and health economic evaluations.
Dr. Agyekum has presented her work at major international conferences, including the World Ophthalmology Congress and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO).
She has received several international recognitions, including the UNESCO–TWAS SG-NAPI Award, the Nkabom Grant from the French Embassy in Ghana and the AREF Women in Research Grant Writing Award. She is also a recipient of the ARVO Travel Grant and multiple CUHK research studentships.
Beyond her research, Dr. Agyekum serves as Vice Coordinator and Research Lead of the Women in Vision Network, Ghana, where she mentors emerging female scientists and facilitates research collaborations. She is a member of the Ghana Optometric Association, and her work continues to contribute to evidence-based eye health policy, low vision rehabilitation and improved children’s eye care in Ghana and beyond.
The SG-NAPI award is administered by TWAS, an autonomous international organisation founded in 1983 and administered by UNESCO since 1991, which promotes scientific excellence and capacity building in the Global South. The German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space supports the programme as part of its broader mandate to strengthen global research partnerships and innovation.