Godwin Anywar Upoki

Biography

Dr. Anywar Godwin is a researcher, academician and entrepreneur and author. He completed his doctorate as a DAAD/Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) fellow from the prestigious Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy & Immunology in Leipzig, Germany, the Institute for Virology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Leipzig and Makerere University, Kampala on a split site model, where he investigated the anti-HIV-1, immunomodulatory activity and cytotoxicity of medicinal plants used by herbalists for treating people living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda. He currently lectures at the Department of Plant Sciences, Microbiology & Biotechnology at Makerere University. He is Global Young Academy (GYA) fellow, 2023-2028, Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY) Fellow at the African Studies Association (ASA), 2. Fellow of the Africa Science Leadership Programme (ASLP) 2023. Fellow of the Uganda National Academy of Sciences (FUNAS) & member of the Young East African Research Scientists’ Forum (YEARS’ Forum). He is also the vice president of the Uganda Textbook Academic & Non-Fiction Writers Association (UTANA), the vice president Natural Products Network for Eastern & Central Africa (NAPRECA) Uganda Chapter. He is also the General Secretary of the Biology Society of Uganda.  He is a member of the editorial boards of: (i) BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies (ii) PLOS ONE (Academic Editor), Frontiers in Pharmacology – Ethnopharmacology (Reviews editor), and (iv) Discover Molecules – Springer Nature . He is also a mentor with the Science Advice Skills Development Program (SASDP-2) at the International Network for Government Science Advice (INGSA) and the African Academy of Sciences Mentorship Programme.  His research interests are in the field of natural product development, Complementary & Alternative Medicine, pharmacognosy, nutraceuticals, ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology, Poisonous Plants, Wild, Neglected and Underutilised Food Plants. He is passionate about research and has authored several papers, and book chapters in international peer reviewed journals, and is currently working on a couple of book projects as author and editor. Dr. Anywar is a member of several professional bodies and such as the Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research, the International Society for Ethnopharmacology, American Society of Pharmacognosy, the African Phytomedicine Scientific Society, the International Society of Ethnobiology, the International Society for Ethnobotany, and the Botanical Society of America, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), among others. He is a recipient of several awards including the Young Investigator Fellowship Award at the 19th International Congress of the International Society of Ethnopharmacology at the Technische Universität in Dresden, Germany in 2019, the developing nations member travel awards to the Society of Economic Botany (SEB) conference in Cincinnati, USA – June 2019, Vice Chancellors Research Excellence Award at Makerere University in Jan 2024, and the Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research (GA) Travel Grants for the International Congress on Natural Products Research in Kraków, Poland July, 2024 and AAAS, &The World Academy the advancement of science in developing countries (TWAS – AAAS) Science Diplomacy course in Trieste, Italy, Winner of the prestigious Young Scientist Award in the category of Phytochemicals & Medicinal Plants, -2024 by the Society for Plant Research (SPR), in India

Awards