Emmanuel Akowuah
About
Emmanuel Akowuah is a PhD researcher at the Institute of Experimental Infection Research at TWINCORE. He holds degrees in Biochemistry, Medical Laboratory Technology, and an MPhil in Clinical Microbiology from Ghana, and is a trained Allied Health Professional and a Clinical Biomedical Scientist.
His early work focused on diagnostics for neglected tropical diseases, and later expanded to SARS-CoV-2, where he developed a strong interest in infection biology. He was first introduced to TWINCORE during the Lower Saxony Summer Academy (LISA) in 2023, after which he returned to join the Kalinke lab as a PhD candidate in 2025.
In his current research, Emmanuel investigates host-directed antiviral strategies against emerging viruses such as tick-borne encephalitis virus, RSV, and influenza virus. His work focuses on leveraging innate immune responses, particularly interferon-stimulated genes, and exploring mRNA-based delivery using Lipid nanoparticles (LNP) to develop broad-spectrum therapies with translational potential.
