One of Africa’s top biomedical scientists, Dr. Dougbeh Christopher Nyan of Liberia, has received the prestigious African Genius Award this year 2025 for his ingenuity and innovation in science, medicine, and technology. He is among 16 brilliant Africans to receive the award this year, out of over one-hundred nominated entries.
“We want to celebrate African achievers. So many of them are talented and it is unbelievable. We would like you to support us in celebrating exceptional Africans,” Dr. Mmusi Maimane, the AGA 2025 host informed the audience.
Dr. Nyan is among several other awardees are from Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria, among others. They work in various fields of science, medicine, the humanities and other disciplines.
“It is an honour to be awarded Africa Genius Award 2025 and to be counted among several innovative Africans. I received this Award as a symbol of our African ancestral pride, resilience, determination, and courage,” said Dr. Nyan.
Nyan is the globally renowned inventor of the Rapid Multiplex Isothermal Diagnostic Test for Infectious Diseases (the NYAN-TEST). The test is easy to use, less expensive, detects multiple diseases in less than an hour, and has been granted three United States Patents.
Nyan recently led a team of scientists that discovered Mpox Clade IIa in Liberia, about 55 years since the first Monkeypox virus was detected in Liberia around 1970.
The AGA is a special continental project undertaken that aims to recognise exceptional Africans that have made an outstanding contribution towards the realisation of African self-determination, dignity and exceptionalism.
“We are honoured to recognise your [Dr. Nyan’s] work, and we celebrate the brilliance, innovation, and leadership you represent,” the AGA initial nomination letter to Dr. Nyan mentioned.
Dr. Nyan currently heads Liberia’s National Public Health Institute (NPHIL), which has improved to heights of being designated as a Regional Center of Excellence by the Africa Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (Africa-CDC).
The AGA project is based in South Africa. Its partners include the University of Johannesburg, Plus-94 Research, Charlotte Mannya Maxeke Institute, The African Dream, and Brandhill Africa, among others.
This latest accolade adds to many other awards Dr. Nyan has received the African Innovation Award 2017, the Ward Lifetime Achievement Award in Science and Medicine, and the Humane Order of African Redemption, among others.
