IPNEWS: A Liberian student currently studying at the University of Ghana, has been lauded by fellow colleagues for his passionate and leading role played among Laboratory technicians at the University.

G. Burgess Gbelee, Jr. is a young Liberian medical laboratory technologist and an intermediate field epidemiologist. He graduated from the Tubman National Institute of Arts (TNIMA) with a Diploma in Medical Laboratory Science.

Prior to this, Gbelee, enrolled at the Stella Maris Polytechnic University, Mother Patern College of Health Sciences, where he obtained an Associate degree in Medical Laboratory Technology and later a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Laboratory Technology.

The young Liberian Laboratory expert also attended the Liberia Field Epidemiology Training Program (LFETP), where he obtained an Intermediate Certificate in Field Epidemiology.

Mr. Gblee Jr obtained a Diploma in Leadership and Personal Development from the Jonah Togbah School of Leadership and Development, and another Certificate in Leadership and Africa Agenda 2060 from the Young Leader of Africa (YOLEAF Network).

In the quest for higher education, young Gbelee enrolled at Cuttington University to study for a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology. During his second semester at Cuttington, he got a scholarship from the European Union and Developing Country Clinical Trials program to study for a Master of Philosophy in Applied Epidemiology and Disease Control at the University of Ghana and for Advanced Field Epidemiology at the Ghana Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (GEFLTP).

Gbelee currently is an employee of the National Public Health Institute of Liberia and the first LIBERIAN/Medical Laboratory personnel in Liberia to have received training in COVID-19 diagnostics, and collected and diagnosed the first COVID case in Liberia.

He is an infectious substances transportation trainer in the Anglophone countries of West Africa. His time at the University of Ghana is rewarding. He served as the International Students Representative for the EDCTP fellows, the GFELTP Cohort XV class Representative, and is currently serving as Interim President of the International Students Association of the University of Ghana. The association is comprised of Ph.D., Master’s, and Bachelor’s students.