He was widely addressed by his initials, KO-F. A top student-athlete from Ghana’s Prempeh College in Kumasi, KO-F continued his academic and athletic excellence at Yale University, where he captained the track and field teams, excelled in soccer, and set records in the hurdles.

While pursuing his medical degree at Yale, KO-F and his wife, Janet, welcomed their first son, Kwame. Their joy was soon tempered by the results of a newborn screening, which revealed that baby Kwame had sickle cell disease (SCD). This life-altering experience inspired KO-F to dedicate his career to pediatric hematology-oncology, striving to develop interventions and cures to improve the lives of children with SCD and reduce preventable infant mortality worldwide.

KO-F’s professional journey led him through a residency and fellowship in hematology-oncology at NY/Weill Cornell Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Following the Hematology-Oncology Fellowship at CHOP, KO-F spent six years at Tulane University Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he established the Southern Louisiana Sickle Center-Tulane University, and helped establish the Northern Louisiana Sickle Center-Louisiana State University, in Shreveport.

While at Tulane, he played a pivotal role in advising the Louisiana Health Department on developing a newborn screening program for SCD. Returning to CHOP, KO-F became a full professor at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and, from 1990 to 2010, directed three consecutive five-year cycles of the Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). He trained countless physicians, nurses, social workers, community health workers, and technologists in SCD screening, diagnosis, care, and psychosocial support.

From 1993 to 2008, NIH funded KO-F and his collaborators to develop Africa’s first-ever public health program for newborn sickle cell disease screening in Ghana. This initiative was institutionalized with the founding of the Sickle Cell Foundation in 2004, where KO-F served as its first president. His efforts bore fruit when, in November 2010, Ghana’s Ministry of Health launched a National Newborn Screening Program for SCD, followed by the inclusion of Hydroxyurea in Ghana’s subsidized health coverage in 2021—a milestone in SCD treatment and accessibility.

KO-F’s groundbreaking contributions earned him numerous accolades, including:

• Ghana’s National Award – Order of the Volta (2015)
• Assistant Secretary of Health Exceptional Service Medal (2020)
• American Society of Hematology Henry M. Stratton Award (2021)
• CHOP Richard D. Wood Distinguished Alumni Award (2022)

The CHOP award citation aptly captured KO-F’s legacy, recognizing his “dedication and accomplishments as a physician, professor, and athlete, and his remarkable work and research in sickle cell disease treatment in children.”

KO-F’s life was one of focus, sacrifice, and unwavering dedication–a mission to ensure that individuals with SCD not only survived but thrived with dignity and quality of life.