Ama de-Graft Aikins is a professor of social psychology and a British Academy Global Professor at the Institute of Advanced Studies, University College London. She received her PhD in social psychology from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), completed postdoctoral training at the University of Cambridge and has held teaching and research positions at the LSE, University of Cambridge and University of Ghana.

Professor de-Graft Aikins’ research focuses on chronic illness representations, experiences and care, and on the psychosocial, cultural and health systems aspects of Africa's chronic non-communicable disease (NCD) burden. She also has a strong interest in the history of psychology in Africa and its intersections with critical theory and African Studies. She has supervised and mentored graduate students based in Ghanaian, European, American and Australian universities on health and social science aspects of Africa’s NCD burden.

Professor de-Graft Aikins has led, and collaborated in, interdisciplinary NCD research projects based in Africa and Europe with colleagues from Universities of Ghana and Amsterdam, University College London and New York University. She has NCD/health policy experience with Ghanaian, West African and global health institutions including Ghana’s Ministry of Health, West Africa Health Organization (WAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).  She is currently principal investigator for Chronicity and Care in African Contexts, a project funded through her British Academy Global Professorship award. Blending empirical research on chronic care in London’s West African communities and public engagement for NCDs, the project aims to contribute a 'whole-of-society' approach to initiatives addressing the disproportionate burden of chronic diseases in African communities on the continent and the diaspora.

Leonard Baatiema is a Research Fellow at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana. He holds a PhD in Public Health from the Australian Catholic University, Sydney and a Master of Science degree in Health, Community and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Leonard’s research projects focused on health systems and policy research, human resource for health,  non-communicable diseases prevention and control policies, evidence generation and uptake  to influence policy and public health practice, NCDs and HIV comorbidity, lived experiences of sub-Sharan African migrants living with chronic NCDs and priority setting for NCDs prevention and control.

Dr Baatiema is a Co-Investigator of the CARE Diabetes Project in Ghana – a GCRF/MRC funded project seeking to generate contextual understandings of Type 2 Diabetes in poor communities in urban Ghana. He is part of the team at the African Centre of Excellence on Non-Communicable Diseases Consortium based at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana. He is also an ad hoc reviewer to a number of public health and health policy-based academic journals including Health Policy, Implementation Science, BMJ Global Health, Global Health Action, Global Public Health. He is currently on the Chronicity and Care in African Contexts team as a postdoctoral researcher.

Olutobi Sanuade is a Research Fellow at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, and an Honorary Research Associate at the Institute for Global Health, University College London. He received his PhD in Population Studies from the University of Ghana and completed his postdoctoral training at the Institute for Advanced Studies, University College London.

Olutobi’s research focuses on Non-communicable disease (NCD) epidemiology, care, health systems response and deconstruction of epidemiological/quantitative data. He has extensive experience working as part of a multidisciplinary scientific team and in a multicultural environment.

He is a Co-Investigator on a GCRF/MRC funded project which aims to generate contextual understandings of Type 2 Diabetes in three urban poor communities in Ghana. He is also part of the research team at the African Centre of Excellence on Non-Communicable Diseases Consortium based at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana. He is a mixed methods researcher with expertise in quantitative and qualitative research. He is currently on the Chronicity and Care in African Contexts team as a postdoctoral researcher.

Dr. Ernestina Korleki Tetteh holds a Ph.D. in Migration Studies, a Master of Philosophy degree in Sociology, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work from the University of Ghana. Her research focuses on diverse groups of children and adolescents affected by both internal and international migration. From 2017 to 2020, she conducted research on the mental health experiences of street children and adolescents, most of whom are migrants. Her engagement with the children and institutions with them during the period revealed that street children suffer a number of chronic illnesses. She has since nurtured the idea of exploring this novel area of research with street children. Her current interest in NCD research focuses on personal experiences, needs, and coping behaviors of children affected by chronic illness. These include children living with a chronic illness; those providing primary care for relatives who have chronic illness and the children who live within households with a sick relative. She is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Policy Studies at the University of Ghana and a member of the Society for Research in Child Development.

Jemima Akosua Okaikor Okai holds Master of Arts in Development Management from Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and Bachelor of Arts in Political Science (major) from University of Ghana.

Jemima is the Executive Assistant to the PI of the Chronicity and Care in African Contexts Project and a member of the CARE Diabetes Project team in Ghana – a GCRF/MRC funded project seeking to produce contextual understandings of Type 2 Diabetes in urban Ghana.

Jemima loves to create content to inform, encourage, and educate young people, in groups and/or individually. She normally creates content on self-development, confidence building, and faith. In addition to her administrative role on the Chronicity and Care in African Contexts Project, Jemima will be in charge of content creation and management for the project website and social media platforms. She will specialise in creating content for children, adolescents and youth groups on the continent and in the diaspora.

Awurabena Kessie is a Speech and Language Therapist and Clinical Academic Researcher specialising in Complex Communication Needs. She completed an MRes in Speech, Language and Cognition at University College London in the faculty of Brain Sciences.

Awurabena is a member of the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR). Her research
interest includes neurodevelopmental conditions (such as Down Syndrome and Autism) within West African communities in the UK. She has a strong interest in engaging underrepresented groups and co-creation in research.

She is also the chair of the British-Ghanaian (BRiGHt) Therapy Partnership, a Clinical Excellence Network that collaborates with Speech and Language Therapists in Ghana. She also acts as a mentor for newly qualified Speech and Language Therapist working in Accra, Ghana. On this project, Awurabena contributes as a Volunteer Research Intern to the West African Londoners Chronic Care (WALCC) study of the Chronicity and Care in African Context project.

Akua Banful is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University researching questions of climate, culture, and empire. Her dissertation, "The Hostile Tropics: Towards a Postcolonial Discourse of Climate," examines the workings of tropical climates in imperial and postimperial contexts in literature spanning Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and the Caribbean. She received her A.B. from Princeton University.

She is the Andrew W. Mellon Pre-Doctoral Fellow in Climate and Inequality at The Climate Museum, where her public-facing work supports Talking Climate, exhibitions, and youth programming. She was a Graduate Fellow at the Heyman Center for the Humanities at Columbia and a New York State Public Humanities Fellow; her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Public Books, the Journal of Literature and Medicine, Modernism/Modernity Print Plus, and AfricainWords.

Akua is a Research Associate on the Chronicity and Care in African Context project led by Prof Ama de-Graft Aikins. In this project, she contributes to the West African Londoners Chronic Care (WALCC) study.

Naomi Haile is a graduate from the University of Kent (Medway School of Pharmacy) with a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacology and Physiology. During her undergraduate studies, she conducted a research investigating the effects of Psychotropic drugs on symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in youth, and factors influencing Parent/Caregiver adherence to these treatment methods. In that project, Naomi explored the ASD diagnostic gender bias theory, which highlights a gender gap in ASD research, as a large proportion of studies are carried out on majority male participants.

Her research interest involves projects that address health inequalities within different populations. She also aspires to educate and raise public health awareness around health risks and treatment, specifically focusing on vulnerable communities.

Naomi is now working a Research Assistant on the Chronicity and Care in African Context study led by Prof Ama de-Graft Aikins. In this project, she contributes to the West African Londoners Chronic Care (WALCC) study.

Mary Okon is a Public Health Specialist, and a Fellow at the Royal Society of Public Health. Mary received her MPH from the Nuffield Institute, University of Leeds.
With over a decade of professional and educational practice; Mary’s experience encompasses wide ranging projects, from non-communicable disease (NCD) interventions and health improvement initiatives to tobacco control and smoking cessation.
She is a change agent who supports inspires and influences in areas of socioeconomic deprivation, to remove extreme poverty and hunger, and improve quality of life for vulnerable population groups and communities.

Mary works with decision makers and stakeholders across the public and private sectors, and voluntary organisations to improve health and reduce social inequalities in the African context. With vast experience of working in a multidisciplinary team and multicultural settings, Mary is adept at cross functional collaborations at the highest level. She is currently on the Chronicity and Care in African Contexts team as a research associate.