Momodou Cham, MD,MPH

• Epidemiology
• COL6A3
• Collaboration
• GBA1
• Parkinson's disease
• Patient Engagement
• Genetics of Parkinson’s

Research clinician and public health physician for the Richard Novati Catholic Hospital, Catholic Health Service Trust-Ghana.
I am the public health physician specialist in charge of research and scientific training in my hospital and its supervising Health Directorate. I have been involved in Parkinson’s disease (PD) research since 2008, starting with the development of a community-based case definition for PD that led to the screening of tens of suspected cases in 2008 and 2009.
The people with Parkinson’s (PwPs) diagnosed in our communities in rural Ghana gradually increased due to our active surveillance and use of public health approaches to PD. This lead to the recruitment of PwP for studies related to the genetics and treatment of PD, leading to numerous publications (see publications below).
In 2018, I was the PI in the MDS-funded Availability of PD Medicines Survey that was conducted in 121 pharmacy outlets throughout Ghana. I was a co-investigator and site lead for the Phase III non-inferiority randomized, controlled clinical trial comparing Mucuna pruriens to Levodopa+ Dopa Decarboxylase Inhibitor in the management of PD between 2018 and 2020.
Since September 2022, I am a co-investigator in the NIHR-funded Transforming Parkinson’s care in Africa (TraPCAf) project and the site lead for the Richard Novati Catholic Hospital. My site is recruiting cases and controls for TraPCAf and GP2, with new cases of drug-naïve PD likely to be diagnosed during the prevalence study currently being conducted at my site as part of TraPCAf. A network of PD advocates (health workers, community members, traditional, religious and local government leaders) is currently being formed within 10 neighboring districts of the hospital, and his will lead to more suspected and confirmed cases of PD in the coming years.
I am also the Public Health and Research Coordinator for the Catholic diocese of Keta-Akatsi in the Volta region of Ghana. The diocese has 5 hospitals which are collaborating to raise awareness of PD, diagnose and refer PwP due to the trainings I have carried out on PD in these partner hospitals.
In September 2023, I was part of a team consulted by WHO in Geneva towards the publication of the WHO’s report on Improving Access to Neurological Medicines (2024).
I currently head a research team consisting of biomedical scientists, Public Health Officers, statisticians, nurses and allied health professionals dedicated to PD-related research.