Brief Profile

Dr. Dorotheah Obiri is a Research Fellow with the Department of Immunology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana. She received her PhD in Molecular, Cell Biology of Infectious Diseases from the University of Ghana. Her overarching research interest is to improve maternal and child health in resource-limited settings with a focus on infectious and non-infectious disease interactions during pregnancy. She is highly motivated to pursue a basic and translational research career in reproductive biology and immunology to improve maternal and child health in Ghana, Africa and globally. Her ongoing research emphasises the effects of placental malaria on hypertensive disorders in pregnancy. She has also been involved with studies assessing severe malaria in children.

Dr. Obiri is an ardent mentor and advocate for maternal and child health issues. She is consistently zealous about research that builds capacity and improves maternal and child health. Her role as an executive member of the Action on Preeclampsia Ghana, a maternal and child health advocacy organisation is harnessing the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in prioritising the next research agenda.

Research Interest: 

• Reproductive biology and immunology
• Biology and immunology of Infectious diseases – malaria and COVID-19
• Coinfections and comorbidities in pregnancy 

Selected Publications

• Frimpong, A., J. Amponsah, D. Agyemang, A. Sena Adjokatseh, S. Eyiah-Ampah, N. Aba Ennuson, D.Obiri, L. Eva Amoah, and K. Asamoah Kusi, Elevated levels of endothelial molecules ICAM-1, VEGF-A and VEGFR2 in microscopic asymptomatic malaria. Open Forum Infectious Diseases, (2021). [PMID: 34277886]
• Obiri, D., I.J. Erskine, D. Oduro, K.A. Kusi, J. Amponsah, B.A. Gyan, K. Adu-Bonsaffoh, and M.F. Ofori, Histopathological lesions and exposure to Plasmodium falciparum infections in the placenta increases the risk of preeclampsia among pregnant women. Sci Rep, 10(1), 8280 (2020). [PMID: 32427864]