Available for Collaboration

👋 Hello, I'm Justice
Ohene
Amofa

Applied Bioinformatician at Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Ghana — bridging genomics, machine learning, and public health to combat infectious disease across Africa. Nextflow Ambassador · LLM Engineer · Open-Source Builder.

🔬 View My Work GitHub 🌐 Portfolio

Publications

Conferences

Awards

Projects

Current Role

🧬

Applied Bioinformatician

NMIMR · Accra, Ghana

Ambassador

🚀

Nextflow · Seqera

NFCore · Open Science

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🧬 Bioinformatics ✦🤖 Machine Learning ✦🌍 Public Health Genomics ✦💊 Drug Discovery ✦🔬 Cholera Research ✦🦠 Antimicrobial Resistance ✦⚗️ Computational Chemistry ✦🚀 Nextflow Ambassador ✦🧬 Bioinformatics ✦🤖 Machine Learning ✦🌍 Public Health Genomics ✦💊 Drug Discovery ✦🔬 Cholera Research ✦🦠 Antimicrobial Resistance ✦⚗️ Computational Chemistry ✦🚀 Nextflow Ambassador ✦

About Me

Scientist.
Builder. Leader.

I'm Justice — an Applied Bioinformatician at Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), University of Ghana. My work sits at the intersection of genomics, AI, and public health — making sense of infectious disease data to drive real policy decisions across Africa.

From developing cholera analysis pipelines to engineering large language models in London, I bring a rare combination of wet-lab genomics understanding, software engineering depth, and machine learning intuition.

Based in Accra, Ghana 🇬🇭 — open to global research collaborations, speaking engagements, and consulting opportunities.

Get In Touch →

🧬

Cholera Genomics Lead

Leader of the Cholera Genomics Data Analysis Working Group, supporting endemic countries with pipelines and policy-ready reports.

🌍

Africa CDC Facilitator

Facilitates bioinformatics training for multiple African countries hosted at NMIMR, powered by Africa CDC.

🚀

Nextflow Ambassador

Official Nextflow Ambassador at Seqera Labs — promoting pipeline adoption, organizing events, supporting the community.

💡

Open Source Builder

Active contributor to bioinformatics pipelines on GitHub, GitLab, Stack Overflow, and Reddit. Ships real tools researchers use.

Expertise

Skills & Technologies

A multidisciplinary toolkit spanning computational biology, software engineering, AI, and data science.

🧬

Bioinformatics & Genomics

Whole genome sequencing, amplicon analysis, pathogen surveillance pipelines for cholera, TB, Klebsiella, and AMR organisms.

NextflowSnakemakeBactopiaBacpage/CholgenGISAIDQiime2DESeq2SeekDeep

🤖

Machine Learning & AI

Deep learning, LLM engineering, predictive modelling for clinical genomics and drug discovery applications.

PyTorchTensorFlowScikit-learnKERASLLM EngineeringAlphaFold

💻

Programming

Full-stack development, data pipelines, and scientific computing across multiple languages and paradigms.

PythonRRustBashC++PHPMATLABGroovy

☁️

Cloud & HPC

High-performance computing, containerization, and distributed systems for large-scale genomic data processing.

DockerSingularityHPC ClustersAWS S3LENGAUTesla V100

⚗️

Cheminformatics & Drug Discovery

Molecular docking, DFT calculations, structural biology, and computational drug design pipelines.

AutoDock VinaPyMOLGaussianSchrödingerChimeraXVMD

🏗️

Software Engineering

Full-stack web and mobile applications, REST APIs, databases, inventory systems, and LMS platforms.

MERN StackDjangoFlutterFastAPIPostgreSQLMongoDB

Career

Work Experience

Current

60 hrs/wk

🏥 Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research · Ghana

Applied Bioinformatician

Developed Flux Inventory System — scientific inventory management tool deployed across the Genomics & Bioinformatics Core Facility institute-wide.
Analyses bacterial pathogens including cholera, TB, Klebsiella, and infectious viruses for critical public health surveillance.
Develops bioinformatics pipelines for whole-genome and amplicon sequencing, driving significant efficiency gains in data processing.
Trains interns and facilitates Africa CDC-hosted bioinformatics programs for multiple African countries, supporting continental capacity building.
Contributes to SOPs and open-source bioinformatics pipelines on GitHub, GitLab, Stack Overflow, and Reddit.

40 hrs/wk

🇬🇧 USQRD & Omnitech Solutions · London, UK (Remote)

LLM Engineer

Developed and optimized large language models for diverse applications, improving performance and accuracy of data-driven solutions.
Integrated LLM capabilities into existing systems, improving user interactions and data processing workflows.
Led data preprocessing and feature engineering pipelines resulting in significant model performance improvements.

40 hrs/wk

🇨🇭 Trestle Academy, 4th IR · Accra / Zurich (Remote)

Data Engineer

Designed and maintained software applications; implemented statistical models to identify trends and anomalies in datasets.
Utilized visualization tools for data storytelling and employed version control for analytical script management.

Internship

60 hrs/wk

🔬 Theoretical & Computational Chemistry · Accra

Research Intern

Provided chemical and mechanistic insights into organic reactions using DFT computational methods.
Worked with Spartan, Gaussian, Avogadro, ChemDraw, and CYL view for molecular modelling.

Portfolio

Selected Projects

From clinical inventory systems to genomic pipelines and AI-powered applications.

01 / PROJECT

🗂️ Flux Inventory System

Scientific inventory management for research institutes — tracks stock levels, prevents unexpected depletion, and ensures operational continuity across the Genomics & Bioinformatics Core Facility at NMIMR.

02 / PROJECT

🫁 TB Detection App

TB detection application via genomic sequencing — part of the GSB Africa program at NMIMR, used for training students in bioinformatics-based TB analysis.

03 / PROJECT

🌍 PANGenS Web Platform

Built and manages the PANGenS consortium website and online LMS — free genomics surveillance training for Pan-Africa Network members across the continent.

04 / PROJECT

📊 GoodReads ETL Pipeline

Real-time data pipeline ingesting GoodReads API data, landing to AWS S3, with ETL jobs written in Spark and scheduled in Airflow every 10 minutes.

05 / PROJECT

🦠 NMIMR Cholegen Analyzer

Automated cholera pathogen analysis pipeline — an updated Bacpage build tailored for NMIMR. Being developed into a full web application for broader African deployment.

06 / PROJECT

🤝 Cholera Genomics Working Group

Leader & Coordinator of the Cholera Genomics Data Analysis Working Group — curating pipelines and analysis reports for policy decisions in cholera-endemic African countries.

Research

Publications & Preprints

2026

BioStruct-Africa's scalable framework for AlphaFold-enabled research training and sustainable workforce development in Africa. Amofa J.O., George J., et al.

Communications Biology, 9, Article 321

2025

Carbapenem-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Prevalence, Distribution, and Risk Factors across Six Health Facilities in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Kameni G.N., ..., Amofa J.O., et al.

International Journal of Medical Science and Clinical Research Studies, 5(3), 439–451

2025

Community-Led Standards for Global Wastewater-Based Infectious Disease Surveillance. Smith E.A., ..., Amofa J.O., et al.

Preprint · PHA4GE (Public Health Alliance for Genomic Epidemiology)

2024

Using AI and machine learning to predict TB infections based on patient demographics, risk factors, and clinical presentations. Amofa J., et al.

Preprint · NMIMR

2024

Bioinformatics and data analysis pipelines for Mycobacterium tuberculosis through scientific workflow systems and SOPs. Amofa J., et al.

Preprint · NMIMR

2023

Nosocomial infection of SARS-CoV-2 among laboratory staff in a Biomedical Research Institution. Akowah K.A., ..., Amofa J.O., et al.

Published · NMIMR / University of Ghana

Recognition

Honours & Awards

🏆

Best Oral Presentation

AI & AMR Symposium — African Centre of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Data Intensive Sciences, Uganda

🎓

Government of Ghana Merit Scholarship

Merit-based scholarship for higher education, 2015–2018

💰

Full UoPeople Scholarship — $7,400

Full scholarship for BSc Health Science, University of the People, Pasadena, USA

🌍

PHA4GE Conference 2025

Full Sponsorship — Workshop & Abstract: Data for Action in Public Health Genomics, Cape Town, SA

🔬

BioStruct-Africa Workshop

Full Sponsorship — Structural biology for Africa-based scientists, Nairobi, Kenya

🎤

Oral Presentation — Windhoek, Namibia

Full Sponsorship — Functional Genomics in Cancer Research: Diagnosis & Treatment

Community

Professional Memberships

Active in global and African scientific, bioinformatics, and software communities.

🧪 Open Bioinformatics Foundation (OBF)

⚗️ American Chemical Society (ACS)

🦠 SAGESA – African Genomic AMR Surveillance

📊 PHA4GE Bioinformatics Pipelines WG

🌍 NGS Academy, Africa PGI

🚀 Nextflow Ambassador · Seqera Labs

🔬 American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

📱 Google Flutter App Developers

🎓 Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors

💻 Bioinformatics & Computational Biology (B&CB)

🧬 NGS Code Club · NMIMR

🌊 Cholgen Group · NfCore

Academic Background

Education

🖥️

BSc — Computer Science

University of Ghana, Legon

School of Mathematical Sciences · College of Basic & Applied Sciences

🏥

BSc — Health Science

University of the People, Pasadena, CA, USA

School of Sciences · Public Health Science

🎓

ASc — Health Science (Associate)

University of the People, Pasadena, CA, USA

School of Sciences · Public Health Science

🌟

Diploma — Leadership

Aspire Leaders Institute

New York, United States of America

Get In Touch

Let's Connect

Open to research collaborations, speaking engagements, consulting, and new opportunities in bioinformatics, genomics, and AI.

linkedin.com/in/joamofa

🌐