NYU–University of Ghana Research Integrity Training Program

The NYU–University of Ghana Research Integrity Training Program (NYU-UG RITP) is a collaborative endeavor between NYU Grossman School of Medicine and the University of Ghana School of Public Health. It is funded by an International Research Ethics Education and Curriculum Development Award (5R25TW010886) from the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health.

This program is designed to develop expertise related to research ethics, research integrity, and research governance in Ghana and the West Africa subregion. One element is the NYU-UG Fellowship Program in Research Integrity. In phase 1 (2018–23), the Fellowship trained 30 researchers in cohorts of 10 over the course of 3 years, 5 of whom were selected to complete master’s degrees in bioethics at the NYU Center for Bioethics. The fellowship builds research ethics and integrity capacity among a select group of Ghanaian researchers, enabling its graduates to play leadership roles on multinational research teams and in research governance. In phase 2 (2023–28), the Fellowship will train 24 researchers in two cohorts of 12, expanding eligibility to include fellows from Liberia and Sierra Leone in addition to Ghana.

In addition to the fellowship program, NYU-UG RITP established the first master’s degree program in bioethics in Ghana. The MSc degree in bioethics program at University of Ghana School of Public Health launched in 2022. Phase 2 aims to strengthen, expand, and ensure the long-term sustainability of the MSc in Bioethics program at UG SPH.

Our model is novel in that it goes beyond traditional research ethics issues concerning the protection of human subjects to address the broader set of issues incorporated in the concept of research integrity: research misconduct, conflict of interest, bias in research practice, authorship, and the need for reproducibility.

Principal Investigators

Amos Laar, PhD, MPH, MA
Associate Professor of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health
University of Ghana School of Public Health

Arthur L. Caplan, PhD
Director, Division of Medical Ethics
The Drs. William F. and Virginia Connolly Mitty Professor of Bioethics, Department of Population Health
NYU Langone

Olugbenga G. Ogedegbe, MD, MPH
Professor, Department of Population Health
The Dr. Adolph and Margaret Berger Professor of Medicine and Population Health, Department of Medicine
NYU Langone

Program Coordinator

Silver Nanema, MSc
University of Ghana School of Public Health

Advisory Committee

Rev. John Appiah-Poku, MD
Chair, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Clement Adebamowo, MD, ScD
University of Maryland School of Medicine

Albert G. B. Amoah, MD, PhD
University of Ghana Medical School

Joseph Ayee, PhD
University of Ghana

Rev. Andrews Seth Ayettey, MD, PhD
University of Ghana

Jon Merz, MBA, JD, PhD
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Troy Moon, MD, MPH
Tulane University School of Public Health & Tropical Hygiene

Isabella A. Quakyi, PhD, MSc
University of Ghana School of Public Health

Rosamond Rhodes, PhD
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Henry Silverman, MD, MA
University of Maryland School of Medicine

External Evaluator