Infectious Disease Scientist, Dr. Dougbeh Chris Nyan Inducted in “Diaspora Impact Hall of Fame”
Dr. Dougbeh Chris Nyan, M.D. – Infectious Disease Scientist and Inventor
MINNEAPOLIS-USA, July 18, 2021 – Infectious disease scientist and social activist, Dr. Dougbeh Chris Nyan, has received an honor and inducted into the Diaspora Impact Hall of Fame. The event took place over the weekend and was conducted by the Liberian Unification Summit, an event organized by the Aspiring Liberians for National Transformation.
“We are incredibly pleased to recognize your tremendous grassroots impact on the national growth and development of Liberia through your talent, leadership, and professional ventures,” read the honoring citation to Dr. Nyan, one of the first inductees in the Diaspora Impact Hall of Fame.
The Aspiring Liberians for National Transformation is a group of forward-thinking Liberians who meet to discuss and find solutions to social, political, medical, and other issues confronting Liberian society. The Diaspora Hall of Fame is planned to be a regular induction program that will recognize and admit new inductees yearly based on their contribution to Liberian society.
Over the years, Dr. Nyan has mentored numerous students in the sciences, medicine, and technology and provided general guidance to Liberian students and young academics of other nationalities. As visiting professor, he volunteered and taught medical microbiology at the A. M. Dogliotti School of Medicine of the University of Liberia in 2005-06.
“I appreciate the honor bestowed on me, my induction into the Diaspora Impact Hall of Fame and do encourage other professionals to contribute whatever little they can to the advancement of Liberia, Africa, and humanity as a whole,” remarked Dr. Nyan, the NIH-trained biomedical scientist, and German-trained medical doctor.
Giving back knowledge to other African students, Dr. Nyan volunteered as guest lecturer at the Medical Biotechnology Summer School held in Pretoria, South Africa in 2018. This program brings together university students from several countries within the Southern African Development Commission (SADC) region yearly.
During the Ebola outbreak of 2014, Dr. Nyan led the Diaspora Ebola Taskforce and testified before the US Congress to mobilize support that ended the outbreak in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Nigeria. He advocated for the establishment of the African Center for Disease Control and public health institutes in various countries including Liberia.
The ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic has also seen scientists conducting pandemic response activities in diagnostics, public awareness, and vaccination along with other colleagues in the US and Africa through the Diaspora COVID-19 Focus Group and the Maryland Medical Response Corps.
Throughout the year in 2020, the scientist warned the Liberian and other African health authorities of the “pervasive asymptomatic transmission of COVID-19 variants in the population.”
As recently as April 2021, Dr. Nyan predicted Liberia’s third wave of COVID-19 surge which he says “was avoidable had the government put in place a robust diagnostic process for identifying infected persons, conducting effective contact-tracing, and vaccinating the population much earlier.” He has conducted many COVID-19 vaccination awareness campaigns in Liberia and other African countries.
For his work and sacrifices in the COVID-19 Pandemic Response, the US-based Liberian infectious disease expert, Dr. Nyan, along with other Diaspora health experts were also honored by the New York State Senate in 2020 and presented official citations by Senator Jamaal T. Bailey who represents the 36th Senate District of the State of New York.
Dr. Nyan is an advocate for democracy, good governance, and social-economic justice in Liberia. He was a political prisoner under General Samuel Doe’s government and was exiled in the 1980s.
The Chief Medical and Scientific Officer of Shufflex Biomed, Dr. Nyan, is the inventor of US patented rapid multiplex diagnostic test for infectious diseases (the Nyan-Test) that includes the Coronaviruses (COVID-19), HIV/AIDS, Ebola, Dengue, the Hepatitis viruses, and many more. The Nyan-Test can detect about 3-7 infections and simultaneously identify them in less than an hour.