CSIR gets new Deputy Director-General
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has appointed Professor Marian Dorcas Quain as its Deputy Director-General (DDG).
Until her appointment, she was the Chief Research Scientist with the CSIR-Crops Research Institute and an associate professor of the CSIR College of Science and Technology (CCST).
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A statement issued in Accra on January 24 by the Council said her appointment, which took effect from January 1 this year, was for the next five years.
She takes over from Prof. Paul Pinnock Bosu who was appointed as the substantive Director-General of CSIR in May 2022.
The statement said as the Deputy Director-General, Prof.
Quain would oversee the development and execution of research and development activities of all the 13 research institutes of the council; mobilise funds for research and development activities; establish effective linkages with relevant institutions and agencies within and outside the CSIR; oversee the transfer of the results of research in science and technology and coordinate the commercialisation activities of corporate CSIR.
She would also ensure quality assurance and undertake monitoring and evaluation of the research outputs of the institute to ensure that research results were reliable, relevant and customer-driven.
What does the CSIR do?
The CSIR is the foremost national science and technology institution in the country.
The council undertakes and directs multidisciplinary research, technological innovation as well as industrial scientific development to improve the quality of life of the country’s people.
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Who is Prof. Quain
Prof. Mrs Quain is a biotechnologist with expertise in tissue culture, genetic transformation, plant physiology, molecular biology, cryopreservation and aeroponics.
She holds a PhD in Botany-Plant Physiology, an MPhil in Botany-Physiology as well as a BSc in Botany-Zoology-all from the University of Ghana, Legon.
She also holds a certificate in administration and management from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Accra.
Prof. Quain joined the CSIR-Crops Research Institute in 1996 and immediately started running the institute’s tissue culture laboratory.
Over the years, she has worked on numerous crops focusing on utilising tissue culture techniques for the production of clean planting materials, germplasm conservation and the use of molecular tools for crop diversity, disease diagnostics and molecular marker assisted selection to facilitate current state-of-the-art breeding using transcriptomics and proteomics, as well as application of recombinant gene technology for crop improvement.
She started the molecular biology laboratory of the Institute in 2006 and is currently the leader of the Biotechnology Research Programme at the institute.
Prof. Quain has authored over 100 scientific publications comprising refereed journal papers, books, book chapters, conference papers, production guides, technical reports and manuals-most of which have been published in very reputable high impact local and international journals.
As a very experienced scientist, she has trained several technicians and researchers in the application of biotechnology in research as well as consults and contributes expertise to the running of a number of tissue culture and molecular biology laboratories in a number of organisations in Ghana.