Research Areas/Interests
- My publications have focused on the growing scourge of non-communicable disease, particularly of diabetes and hypertension in sub-Saharan Africa. These publications delve into the associations of candidate biomarkers and diabetes, obesity and hypertension in Ghanaian populations living at different levels of urbanization. The publications found inflammatory biomarkers as key in prediction of these conditions among Ghanaian populations and further showed no synergistic effect of co-morbidity on levels of these markers. In addition, a publication has identified significant increase in risk of diabetes and hypertension with increasing usage of anti-retro viral treatments in the Ghanaian population. This body of work has contributed to policy discussions and will continue to provide evidence in relevant research settings. I served as the primary investigator in all of these studies.
- Darko, S.N., Owiredu, W.K.B.A., Yar, D. et al (2019). Markers of Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in only Diabetic and Obese Ghanaian Populations: The RODAM Study, The Open Diabetes Journal:9 (1), 8-15
- Darko, S.N. (2017). Diabetes and Hypertension Co-morbidity with HIV in patients on ARTs within the Kumasi Metropolis. J Metabolic Synd: 6; 3 (Suppl)
- Darko, S.N., Yar, D.D., Owusu-Dabo, E. et al. (2015). Variations in pro-inflammatory biomarkers associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension between rural and urban settings in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, BMC Endocrine Disorders: 15(50), doi:10.1186/s12902-015-0047-9.
- In addition to the contributions described above, with a team of collaborators, I directly documented the various high and low-risk human papillomaviruses (HPV) prevalent in women living with HIV compared with apparently healthy women. This study found the prevalent high-risk HPVs in the immunocompromised group to be outside that for which vaccines have been designed. This body of work highlights the need to consider such populations in the design and rolling out of HPV vaccinations in the prevention of cervical cancer.
- Yar, D.D., Salifu, S.P., Darko, S.N. et al (2016). Genotypic characterisation of human papillomavirus infections among persons living with HIV infection; a case-control study in Kumasi, Ghana, Trop Med Int Health: 21(2): 275-281. doi: 10.1111/tmi.12645.