New Deputy Director-General Appointed To CSIR

Professor Marian Dorcas Quain has been appointed as the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s (CSIR) Deputy Director-General (DDG).

She was an associate professor at the CSIR College of Science and Technology and the Chief Research Scientist at the CSIR-Crops Research Institute prior to her appointment (CCST).

Her appointment, which became effective on January 1 of this year, was stated to be for the following five years in a statement released in Accra on January 24 by the Council.

Prof. Paul Pinnock Bosu, who was appointed as the official Director-General of the CSIR in May 2022, will be replaced by her.

The announcement identified Professor as the Deputy Director-General.

Quain would coordinate the commercialization efforts of corporate CSIR and supervise the development and execution of research and development activities at all 13 of the council’s research institutes.

Moreover, she would also raise money for these endeavors and forge strong connections with relevant institutions and organizations both inside and outside the CSIR.

Furthermore, she would also oversee quality control and carry out monitoring and assessment of the institute’s research outputs to guarantee that the findings were trustworthy, pertinent, and client-driven.

What is the CSIR’s mission?

The leading national science and technology organization in the nation is the CSIR.

To raise the standard of living for all citizens, the council conducts and oversees multidisciplinary research, technological advancement, and industrial scientific development.

Who is Prof. Quain

Prof. Mrs. Quain is a biotechnologist with experience in cryopreservation, aeroponics, plant physiology, tissue culture, genetic transformation, and molecular biology.

She graduated from the University of Ghana, Legon, with a Ph.D. in Botany—Plant Physiology, an MPhil in Botany—Physiology, and a BSc in Botany—Zoology.

Additionally, she is a holder of a certificate in management and administration from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), located in Accra.

Prof. Quain started managing the institute’s tissue culture laboratory as soon as she joined the CSIR-Crops Research Institute in 1996.

She has worked on many different crops over the years, concentrating on using tissue culture techniques to produce clean planting materials, germplasm conservation, and the use of molecular tools for crop diversity, disease diagnostics, and molecular marker-assisted selection to facilitate modern state-of-the-art breeding using transcriptomics and proteomics, as well as application of recombinant gene technology for crop improvement.

She established the institute’s molecular biology lab in 2006 and is currently in charge of the organization’s Biotechnology Research Program.

Prof. Quain has written over 100 scientific publications, the majority of which have appeared in highly regarded, high-impact local and international journals. These publications include refereed journal papers, books, book chapters, conference papers, production guides, technical reports, and manuals.

She consults and lends her skills to the management of various tissue culture and molecular biology laboratories at a number of organizations in Ghana. She has trained many technicians and researchers in the application of biotechnology in research.

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