Professor Kofi Busia is an accomplished academic, scientist, and health systems expert whose career spans over three decades across teaching, research, and health policy development. A Chartered Chemist and Medical Herbalist (Phytotherapist), he currently serves as Pro Vice-Chancellor and Associate Professor of Ethnomedicine and Phytotherapy at Pentecost University, Ghana.
Kofi spearheaded the establishment of the first Doctor of Herbal Medicine degree programme at Pentecost University, Ghana. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Herbal Medicine (Elsevier), and Principal Postgraduate Supervisor at Lincoln University, Malaysia.
Kofi’s distinguished service at the West African Health Organisation (WAHO) included key leadership roles as Director of Healthcare Services, Acting Director of Planning and Health Information, and Programme Officer for Traditional Medicine. During his tenure, he led the development of Volumes I and II of the West African Herbal Pharmacopoeia, and coordinated major regional initiatives in adolescent health, the Ebola and COVID-19 responses, curriculum harmonisation, and leadership capacity development.
His academic training reflects a strong interdisciplinary foundation. He earned his PhD in Biological Organic (Natural Product) Chemistry and BSc (Hons) in Chemistry from Birkbeck, University of London; a BSc (Hons) in Herbal Medicine from Middlesex University; and pursued medical science studies at Queen Mary, University of London. He also undertook advanced professional training in Project Management at the Galilee International Management Institute in Israel.
Kofi has held teaching and research appointments at Birkbeck, Middlesex University, the University of Ghana, the University of East London, Lincoln University College (Malaysia), and the Pan-African University Institute for Life and Earth Sciences at the University of Ibadan.
A prolific author, his publications include Organic Chemistry for Schools, Advanced Level and Senior High School Physical and Inorganic Chemistry, and the two-volume Fundamentals of Herbal Medicine. He contributed to the African Indigenous Medical Knowledge and Human Health (CRC Press) and served as Editor of the 2nd Edition of the Ghana Herbal Pharmacopoeia.
In recognition of his exceptional contributions to traditional medicine development in West Africa, he was decorated in 2013 as a Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Burkina Faso (Knight of the National Order of Burkina Faso).
