Biography:

Dr. Evans Afriyie-Gyawu (“Dr. Evans”) is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University (GSU). He is a native of Ghana on the West Coast of Africa. He completed his Ordinary and Advanced Levels Secondary education at Kumasi Academy, Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. In 1990, Dr. Evans obtained a scholarship to pursue his university education in Poland. After two academic years in Poland, he came to the United States and sought an educational opportunity at Blinn College in Texas and later transferred to Texas A&M University (TAMU) in College Station, Texas.

In 1998, Dr. Evans obtained his bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science at TAMU. Upon graduation, he pursued an MPH degree in Epidemiology/Biostatistics at TAMU System Health Science Center, School of Rural Public Health. In the Public Health program, Dr. Evans worked as a Graduate/Research Assistant and his work included: 1) grant writing for the Center for Environmental and Rural Health; 2) public health research on Birth Defects Prevention; and 3) development of Environmental/Occupational Health Survey Instrument and Educational Curriculum for the U.S-Mexico border communities. He graduated with his MPH degree in 2000.

Soon after completing his MPH work, Dr. Evans was admitted into the Toxicology program at TAMU where he earned his PhD in 2004. As Graduate/Research Assistant in the program; his research focus was on developing practical, safe, effective, culturally acceptable, economically feasible, and sustainable enterosorbent strategies for the protection of populations at high-risk for aflatoxicoses; particularly in developing countries. Upon graduation, Dr. Evans accepted a Postdoctoral Research Associate position at TAMU to conduct aflatoxin-enterosorbent research in humans. He served in this capacity for over 3 years and his work primarily included: 1) clinical research in Ghana testing the viability of a sorbent material (NovaSil, NS) for the prevention of aflatoxicoses - in collaborations with the University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana; Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana; Texas Tech University, USA; and University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA; 2) determining the efficacy and safety of NS using urinary aflatoxin metabolite (AFM1) and blood parameters; 3) supervising and mentoring graduate students; and 4) grant writing.

Dr. Evans has been able to combine his backgrounds in Public Health and Toxicology to conduct research activities involving human and animal subjects. He has presented his research at various scientific conferences and meetings in the U.S and abroad. By invitation, he presented his work at the International Peanut Conference in Bangkok, Thailand in January, 2005. He was an invited speaker at the Annual Conference of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana in September, 2006. In fact, activities of the conference were featured as Health News on Ghana News Agency, and received coverage on the National Television Station (GTV). He has also presented his research outcomes at the IUPAC Symposium on Mycotoxins and Phycotoxins in Istanbul, Turkey in May, 2007. Overall, he has published and co-authored 13 peer-reviewed research papers, 3 book chapters and over 30 abstracts and proceedings to major scientific conferences and meetings. In addition, he has served as a scientific reviewer for Food Additives and Contaminants, a London-based journal. He is also a member and the Vice President of the African Society for Toxicological Sciences.

Prior to the appointment at GSU, Dr. Evans assumed a position as a Research Scientist at the Cooperative Agricultural Research Center, Prairie View A&M University for almost four months. His work primarily involved developing microbiological assays to elucidate the viability of synthesized compounds to protect certain organisms against environmental factors; and conducting synthetic biology experiments.

Dr. Evans is excited about his current faculty position here at GSU because of the fact that he teaches and conducts environmental health and toxicology research in the context of Public Health and mentors students. Dr. Evans enjoys spending time with his family and friends, traveling, meeting new people, bowling, and reading scientific journals. He is proud and happy to be a part of the JPHCOPH faculty and the GSU family as a whole.