University of Ghana holds Prof Marian Addy memorial lecture

The Department of Biochemistry of the University of Ghana has held a memorial lecture for the late Professor Marian Addy, the former host of the Ghana National Science and Maths Quiz.

The iconic biochemistry professor who passed away in January last year was well known for her studies into plant medicine, employment of biological markers to monitor environmental pollution and for her interest in the molecular characterization of antibiotic resistance.

Prof Ernest Aryeetey, Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, said it was important to show the achievements of the late professor, her immense contribution to science and what she stood for to inspire others.

He expressed the hope that Prof Addy’s commitment to her work would ensure that her memory lives on and that there would be many more scientists like her.

Prof Alexander Nyarko, Dean of the University’s School of Pharmacy who delivered the lecture, recalled some of the studies that he and the late Prof Addy accomplished.

The two established oral glucose tolerance tests in the late eighties that showed extracts of the plant Bengal Indigo (Indigofera Arrecta) stimulated the islet cells and promoted insulin levels.

It could be used to treat Type Two diabetes which is caused by insulin resistance, insufficiency of insulin or inability of the body to utilize insulin effectively.

The two also began studies in the eighties which established that extracts of Desmodium Adscendens were effective in fighting asthma by decreasing the contraction of the muscles of the trachea and the release of the chemicals that cause asthma during exposure to allergens.

They carried out several further studies on the plant and asthma, published in peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Ethno pharmacology, Phytotherapy Research and the Planta Medica.

Prof Nyarko said that through the late Professor Addy’s maintenance of cordial relations with her students, she had mentored many research scientists at the undergraduate and graduate levels and some of them were in high positions in Ghana and other countries.

He said until her death, Prof Addy was a strong advocate of women in science and a champion of the development of plant medicine who helped place the University of Ghana on the map of world scholarship.

Prof Addy taught at the University of Ghana and Howard University College in Washington, held the head of department position in a number of institutions and was the quiz mistress of the Science and Maths Quiz for seven years.