Dr Kwaku Appiah-Kubi

Dr Kwaku Appiah-Kubi is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Applied Biology at C. K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences in Ghana. Currently, he is a visiting fellow working with Professor Nick La Thangue at the Department of Oncology, University of Oxford, under the Africa Oxford Initiative (AfOx) Visiting Fellowship programme.

Dr Appiah-Kubi’s research explores cancer biology, amyloidosis, toxicology, and molecular parasitology. As Principal Investigator of a Pfizer Global Medical Grant-funded initiative, he has led national and regional initiatives to raise awareness of Transthyretin Amyloidosis in Ghana and West Africa. Dr Appiah-Kubi holds a PhD in Clinical Laboratory Diagnostic Medicine from Jiangsu University, China, where his research focused on platelet-derived growth factors (PDGFs) and their receptors (PDGFRs) in gastric cancer. He has published extensively and presented at international conferences. He is an active member of scientific organisations like the European Association for Cancer Research, where he serves as an ambassador. He has also guided undergraduate and postgraduate research projects on public health issues in Ghana, including Hepatocellular cancer, Malaria diagnostics, Diabetes prevalence, and Lymphatic filariasis and Schistosomiasis control.

At Oxford, Dr Appiah-Kubi will advance his project, “Exploration of the PDGF/PDGFR Axis for Combination Therapies in Cancer.” This project aims to investigate the PDGF/PDGFR pathway as a potential target in developing cancer treatments, with the long-term goal of establishing a Ghana-Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Cancer Healthcare. His work seeks to provide a foundation for evidence-based cancer care in Ghana and West Africa, fostering healthcare transformation through collaborative research and training.

• Appiah-Kubi, K., Lan, T., Wang, Y., Qian, H., Wu, M., Yao, X., Wu, Y., & Chen, Y. (2017). Platelet-derived growth factor receptors (PDGFRs) fusion genes involvement in hematological malignancies. Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology, 109, 20–34.

• Appiah-Kubi, K., Wang, Y., Qian, H., Wu, M., Yao, X., Wu, Y., & Chen, Y. (2016). Platelet-derived growth factor receptor/platelet-derived growth factor (PDGFR/PDGF) system is a prognostic and treatment response biomarker with multifarious therapeutic targets in cancers. Tumor Biology, 37(8), 10053–10066.

• Qian, H., Appiah-Kubi, K., Wang, Y., Wu, M., Tao, Y., Wu, Y., & Chen, Y. (2018). The clinical significance of platelet-derived growth factors (PDGFs) and their receptors (PDGFRs) in gastric cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology, 127, 15–28.

• Wang, Y., Appiah-Kubi, K., Lan, T., Wu, M., Pang, J., Qian, H., Tao, Y., Jiang, L., Wu, Y., & Chen, Y. (2018). PKG II inhibits PDGF-BB triggered biological activities by phosphorylating PDGFRβ in gastric cancer cells. Cell Biology International, 42(10), 1358–1369.

• Wang, Y., Appiah-Kubi, K., Wu, M., Yao, X., Qian, H., Wu, Y., & Chen, Y. (2016). The platelet-derived growth factors (PDGFs) and their receptors (PDGFRs) are major players in oncogenesis, drug resistance, and attractive oncologic targets in cancer. Growth Factors, 34(1–2), 64–71).