Dr. Vivian Paintsil’s passion for pediatric hematology-oncology was inspired by the fact that although children with cancer had a higher chance of survival, those in her home country Ghana and specifically in her hospital were dying. She thought that they needed someone to take good care of them and knew that challenge was for her.
Paintsil earned her undergraduate and medical degrees from the School of Medicine and Dentistry at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana. She then had her Fellowship in Pediatrics with the West African College of Physicians in 2016, and the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons in 2019. She also obtained a certificate in Pediatric Oncology from the African Paediatric Fellowship Program at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.
Paintsil currently works as a senior lecturer at the School of Medicine and Dentistry at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and as the head of Paediatric Oncology at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi. She cares for children with cancers including both blood and solid tumors and benign hematological disorders such as sickle cell disease. Pantsil also teaches general pediatrics and pediatric oncology to medical students, physician assistants, nurses and postgraduates.
Pantsil won the international development and educational award (IDEA) from Conquer Cancer Foundation in 2015. She believes in improving the lives of these children through good supportive care, and that through advocacy and institutionalization of good policies, children with cancer can have a good outcome.
Pantsil is joining the Master’s in Global Health program at St. Jude to gain the requisite skills to advocate and have a greater impact on policymakers to help achieve better outcomes for patients in Ghana. She also hopes the program will enable her to coordinate the research activities of the Childhood Cancer Society of Ghana (CCSG).
Hometown: Akyem Kwabeng, Ghana
Education
BSc. Human Biology – Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. (1996)
Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor in Surgery (MB CHB) – Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi Ghana. (1999)
Fellowship in Pediatrics – West African College of Physicians. (2016)
Fellowship in Pediatrics and Child Health – Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons. (2019)
Certificate in Paediatric Oncology – African Paediatric Fellowship Program (2013)
Publications
Chitsike I, Paintsil V, Sung L et al; Working Together to Build a Better Future for Children With Cancer in Africa. 2020; JCO Global Oncology, Volume 6, 2020
Spreafico, Filippo; Fernandez, Conrad V; Brok, Jesper; Nakata, Kayo; Vujanic, Gordan; Geller, James I; Gessler, Manfred; Maschietto, Mariana; Behjati, Sam; Polanco, Angela; Paintsil, Vivian; Luna-Fineman, Sandra; Pritchard-Jones, Kathy. Wilms Tumour. Nature Reviews Disease Primers. 2021: 7(1)
Caniza, Miguela A; Homsi, Maysam R; Bate, Jessica; Adrizain, Riyadi; Ahmed, Tarek; Alexander, Sarah; Bhattacharyya, Arpita; Copado‐Gutierrez, Jose Luis; Gutierrez, Ivan; Lim, Yan Yin; Morrissey, Lisa; Naidu, Gita; Paintsil, Vivian; Radhakrishnan, Nita; Mukkada, Sheena; Phillips, Robert; Alexander, Kenneth A; Pritchard‐Jones, Kathy. Answers to common questions about COVID‐19 vaccines in children with cancer. Pediatric Blood & Cancer. e29985