Decoding Africa’s Genetic Diversity to Transform Public Health
From local nutrition studies to leading cross-continental genetic epidemiology, Dr. Palwende Romuald Boua is on a mission to bridge the genomic medicine gap in Africa. An alumnus of the AREF Towards Leadership Programme, he shares his journey of building research capacity, uncovering the genetic drivers of cardiometabolic diseases, and the science of true leadership.
When Dr. Palwende Romuald Boua first began his academic journey in Burkina Faso, his focus was on nutrition, food science, and microbial biotechnology. Today, he stands at the forefront of a highly specialised and historically underrepresented field on the continent: human genetics.
“Human genetics is a field that is very scarce in Africa,” Dr. Boua explains. “There are still a lot of things to work on, to do, to discover, and to uncover.”
Driven by the need to understand how genetic backgrounds in African populations drive disease susceptibility, Dr. Boua relocated to South Africa to pursue a programme in human genetics at the University of the Witwatersrand. Yet, his ultimate goal was always to return home. Following his studies, he headed back to Burkina Faso to lay the groundwork for a robust human genetics research programme, contributing deeply to local capacity building.
Moving Beyond “One-Size-Fits-All” Medicine
Dr. Boua’s current research is focused on the genetic susceptibility to non-communicable diseases, specifically cardiometabolic conditions. His overarching goal is to translate these complex genetic findings into meaningful, targeted public health interventions.
“It’s important to know that rather than having a one-size-fits-all approach, genetic diversity and the biology of disease allow us to drive specific interventions targeted for a specific group of people,” he notes.
A major highlight of his career has been his groundbreaking research on atherosclerosis—a major risk factor for stroke. In a landmark paper analysing six different studies on susceptibility in atherosclerosis in African populations, Dr. Boua and his team demonstrated that the sex difference is driving the susceptibility to the disease.
Taking the research a step further, they found that even within women, the genetic pathways activating the disease change depending on menopausal stages; if women are pre-menopausal or post-menopausal, the genetic pathways are different and the risk of stroke increases after menopause. This critical work earned him recognition from Nature editors in 2021, marking a significant milestone in his career.
The Science of Leadership
Transitioning from a promising early-career researcher to a leader building a team from the ground up brought its own set of challenges. It was during this pivotal phase that Dr. Boua joined the second cohort of the AREF Towards Leadership Programme.
“This programme has been very instrumental in really fostering and shaping the rest of my career,” he reflects. “Through this programme, I learned that leadership is not just words or a willingness to do things. Leadership is actually a science, and implementing the science of leadership leads to more efficient outcomes.”
For Dr. Boua, the programme filled a crucial gap in the soft skills that early-career researchers often lack but desperately need. He highlights the profound impact of AREF’s mentorship, the high calibre of trainers, and, most importantly, the peer support.
“Somehow, it’s easy to take advice from people who are more advanced than you, but being able to have the support of your peers and share experiences makes you realise you’re not the only one facing these challenges,” he says. “It gives you ideas on how to address them and move forward within this community.”
Scaling Impact Across the Continent
Empowered by his leadership training, Dr. Boua realised that to truly transform genomic medicine in Africa, his reach needed to expand. Today, he holds a prestigious joint appointment: he leads genetic epidemiology at the MRC Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, while simultaneously maintaining his research portfolio at the Clinical Research Unit of Nanoro in Burkina Faso. He also hold a Honorary Senior Researcher position at the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Biosciences (SBIMB), University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.
Looking ahead, Dr. Boua is a strong advocate for the continued growth of the AREF alumni programme. He envisions an annual gathering where people can share scientific advances and where an AREF alumni scientific conference would allow researchers to share ideas and build new collaborations.
His ultimate ambition remains deeply rooted in health equity. While genomic medicine is rapidly transforming healthcare landscapes globally, the African continent has largely been left waiting for this transformation.
“My ambition in the coming years is to bridge the gap that exists in genomic medicine,” Dr. Boua states. “One of my real goals is to contribute to fulfilling this gap—in terms of knowledge and in terms of transformation—for the better health of African populations.”
The Africa Research Excellence Fund (AREF) is committed to nurturing and supporting the next generation of African health research leaders. To learn more about our Towards Leadership Programme and other fellowship opportunities, explore our website.