(MENAFN- The Conversation) Associate Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center Profile Articles Activity
Dr Razak Gyasi is an Associate Research Scientist in the Aging and Development Unit, African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi, Kenya. He is a Fellow of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and Institute for Research in Africa (IFRA-Nigeria). Before joining African Population and Health Research Center, he was a Lecturer and Senior Researcher at the Department of Sociology and Social Policy, Lingnan University, Hong Kong. He was also a Lecturer at the College of Distance Education (CoDE), University Cape Coast, Ghana and Graduate Teaching and Research Assistant in the Department of Geography and Rural Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana.
Dr Gyasi holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honors (2010) and a Master of Philosophy in Health Geography from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana (2015). He also holds doctoral (PhD) degree in Social Policy (specializing in Social Gerontology) (2018), and a Certificate in Learning and Teaching Development Studies (2016) from Lingnan University. He also holds an advanced Diploma in Education (AdvDipEdu) from University of Cape Coast (2003). He held a post-doctoral Fellowship position in Aging and Development during 2018-2020 at the African Population and Health Research Center, Kenya.
His academic interests and publications broadly focus on social policy and development agendas with particular emphasis on aging, health, and healthcare dynamics. He employs social research perspectives to investigate the intersection of a wide range of social policies, social change, and health outcomes in multilevel social contexts, including rural and deprived urban settings. Since 2013, his research has focused on the following topics: gerontological integrative medicine, old age financial well-being, sleep health and circadian activity rhythm, mental and physical health impacts of food insecurity in old age, effects of socio-environmental, lifestyle factors on health in midlife and later life and health services research. Others include Parkinson's disease diagnosis, perception and care. Much of his research has been be in sub-Saharan African countries, including, Ghana and Kenya.
Dr Gyasi is an accomplished researcher with over 80 academic and scientific publications (h index: Google Scholar = 22 [i10 index = 40]; Scopus = 14), 7 blog articles and had also co-edited a journal supplement issue for Frontiers in Public Health, Aging and Health Section (with Prof Emeritus David R. Phillips and Prof Dr. Dr. Daniel Buor). He is currently editing a book (InteOpen) on“Social Aspects of Aging: Interdisciplinary and Comparative Perspectives”. Many of his articles have appeared in premier gerontology, geriatrics, and public health international peer-reviewed journals, such as The Gerontologist, Journals of Gerontology, Experimental Gerontology, Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Geriatric Nursing, Aging and Mental Health, Journal of Affective Disorders, Cities, Maturitas, International Psychogeriatrics, Research on Aging, Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Journal of Aging and Health, PLOS One, and BMC Public Health.
His research has been funded by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Disease Research, National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Faculty of Social Sciences, Lingnan University, Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), and Institute for Research in Africa.
Dr Gyasi is Associate Editor of BMC Public Health (2018-), Academic Editor of PLOS Global Public Health (2020-), and Editorial Board Member of SAGE Open (2017-). He has also served in the editorial board and as a Guest Associate Editor of Frontiers in Public Health, Aging and Health Section (2021). He has served as an external PhD and Master's thesis examiner for universities in Australia, South Africa, and Ghana. He has mentored many post-doctoral fellows, research officers, graduate students (both MPhil and PhD), and undergraduate trainees since 2015.
He attend high level national, regional and international fora, including membership in four technical working groups, viz., the Gerontological Society of America (GSA), American Sociological Association (ASA), and Ghana Geographers Association (GGA). Dr Gyasi has contributed to both scientific and policy engagement through these platforms. He has made numerous presentations as an invited speaker in international conferences, expert group meetings, and in seminars in academic or aging and health departments throughout the world.
Dr Gyasi aspires to offer useful contributions to social and health policy discourse in SSA and globally, and to guide others to think critically about health and social policy impacts during old age.
Experience
- 2018–present Researcher, African Population Health Research Center
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