28 February 2020, Hamburg: Marylyn Addo, Head of the Infectiology Section at the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), gives an interview after a press conference at the UKE. For the first time, an infection with the novel coronavirus has been detected in Hamburg. The applicant is a member of staff in the Department of Paediatrics and Youth Medicine at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). Photo: Christian Charisius/dpa (Photo by Christian Charisius/picture alliance via Getty Images)

German-born doctor of Ghanaian descent, Prof. Dr Marylyn Addo could be the answer to the world’s problem as she finds a cure to the deadly COVID-19 which has wreaked havoc across nations of the world.

A virologist by profession, Prof Addo is well renowned for her revolutionary work in vaccines used for the treatment of infectious diseases. She is also credited with creating vaccinations that protect people from Ebola virus disease and the MERS coronavirus EMC/2012. 

Addo, 50 is a Professor and head of the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) Head of Infectious Disease at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf.

She has Ghanaian and German ancestry being born to a Ghanaian physician father and a German mother in the city of Troisdorf

She had her medical education at the University of Bonn and later earned a diploma at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, during which she researched Candida albicans transmission between HIV-positive people.

She moved to Boston in 1999 where she specialised in infectious diseases at the Harvard Medical School. At Harvard, Prof Addo was made an Assistant Professor at the Ragon Institute and served as Associate Director of the Harvard University Center for AIDS Research.

Her impeccable records and achievements came to light last week as governments and scientists scrambled to find a cure to the disease which has killed 75,901 infected persons.

According to several news sources, the German Ghanaian virologist was leading a team of scientist to develop a viral vector-based Covid-19 vaccine.

German Ambassador to Ghana, Christoph Retzlaff also confirmed the news in a tweet.

“Prof Marylin Addo is a German Ghanaian doctor in Hamburg/ Germany. She and her team are at the forefront searching for a vaccine against #Coronavirus.” he said on Twitter

In 2014, she was involved with the development of the preparation RVSV-EBOV, an experimental recombinant live vaccination that can be used against the Ebola virus disease.

Alongde the Ebola vaccination, Addo worked on a recombinant live vaccination to tackle the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) vaccination and her vaccination was supported by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.