Boniface Baboreka Kayang, PhD - Dr. Kayang is responsible for overall experiment design, sample collection and all aspects of laboratory analyses in Ghana. He is a molecular geneticist with a keen interest in the conservation and sustainable use of indigenous animal genetic resources. In the past 14 years, he has developed and utilized microsatellite markers in the genetic analyses of poultry species, producing the first microsatellite linkage map of Japanese quail. From 2005-2007 he led the Ghanaian research team in a DURAS (French Government) sponsored project to characterize local chickens in the West African sub-region. As a JSPS Research Fellow (2007-2009), he carried out further research work on genetic analyses of indigenous animals in Ghana. He has been the Ghanaian coordinator of a JSPS sponsored project on the conservation and sustainable use of wildlife in Ghana (2010-2013). He supervised a graduate student to develop microsatellite markers for guinea fowl using “next generation” sequencing technology and is presently a member of the supervisory committee for a PhD student characterizing local guinea fowls in Ghana. He is the immediate past Head of Department of Animal Science, University of Ghana (January 2010 – July 2013).
Augustine Naazie, PhD - Dr. Naazie is co-investigator for the research program at the University of Ghana, managing the project facilities and birds and supervising labor implementing the experiments. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Livestock and Poultry Research Centre (LIPREC), University of Ghana. He is a quantitative geneticist with research focus on the conservation of domestic animal, especially local poultry, genetic resources (characterization, improvement and use of these resources) and also in production systems, their analyses, modeling and evaluation in terms of sustainability. He has worked in multi-disciplinary teams at the International Livestock Research Institute’s (ILRI) Moist Savanna Program, then located at the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan (1995 – 1997). His research focused on developing sustainable crop-livestock systems. He was a collaborator in the DURAS (French Government) sponsored sub-regional project on characterization of local chickens in the West African sub-region (2005-2007). He is currently a member of the supervisory committees for two PhD candidates characterizing Ghanaian local guinea fowls. He is currently executing a project to select local chickens for improved performance at the farmers’ level.
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Hope Otsyina, DVM, PhD. Dr. Otsyina leads the animal challenge experiments with NDV and manages experimental birds at the University of Ghana, School of Veterinary Medicine. He has conducted research in isolation and characterization of vvIBDV in commercial chickens and developed vaccination strategies for Gumboro disease in Ghana. He has played a key role developing a vaccination program for commercial poultry in Ghana and participated in various programs aimed at increased production of local poultry through improved feeding and veterinary care. He has worked as a Senior Research Scientist in livestock and poultry disease prevention and is currently a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana, School of Veterinary Medicine.