Dr Emmanuella Amoako, a paediatric oncologist advancing childhood cancer care in Ghana, has been named the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s (IHME) 2026 Roux Prize winner.

Dr Amoako will receive a $100,000 award for using evidence to improve early diagnosis, expand access to treatment, and advance locally led cancer research in Ghana, according to IHME release shared with Ghana News Agency.

The prize honours her leadership as Lead Paediatric Oncologist at Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, where she has built evidence-driven services that improve early diagnosis, expand access to treatment, and strengthen locally led research.

It also recognizes her broader work across Ghana to advance early detection, workforce development, national research collaboration, and African-led evidence for precision oncology.

Dr Amoako has used evidence to strengthen the delivery of childhood cancer care amid significant access barriers. Her work translates clinical research into practical improvements across diagnosis and treatment.

Each year, the Roux Prize recognises an individual, whose use of health evidence has contributed to measurable improvements in population health and since its establishment by David and Barbara Roux in 2013, the prize has highlighted evidence-driven work from around the world and awarded by IHME at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

Childhood cancer survival exceeds 80 per cent in many high-income countries, compared with less than 30 per cent in many African settings.

Although Ghana has made important progress and now has 12 paediatric oncologists, specialist services remain concentrated in a few urban centers, requiring many families to travel long distances to access care.

Dr Amoako has worked to address these barriers by expanding pediatric oncology services, improving early detection, and strengthening locally led cancer research.

Dr Christopher J.L. Murray, Director of IHME said: “Dr Amoako has used evidence to strengthen the delivery of childhood cancer care amid significant access barriers”

He added: “Her work translates clinical research into practical improvements across diagnosis and treatment. That is exactly the kind of evidence-informed leadership the Roux Prize was created to recognize.”

In 2019, Dr Amoako established a shared-care pediatric oncology service at Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, bringing treatment closer to families who previously traveled up to nine hours to reach specialist care.

The service allows children to receive portions of their care locally while remaining connected to Ghana’s comprehensive cancer centers. Since opening, it has cared for more than 150 children, while supporting treatment adherence and strengthening coordination across facilities.

Dr Amoako said: “What we have learned through the shared-care service can inform broader efforts to strengthen childhood cancer care across Ghana. We now have an opportunity to improve early detection, diagnosis, and long-term capacity. The Roux Prize will help us build on this progress and expand the impact of our work.

“What we have learned through the shared-care service can inform broader efforts to strengthen childhood cancer care across Ghana.

“We now have an opportunity to improve early detection, diagnosis, and long-term capacity. The Roux Prize will help us build on this progress and expand the impact of our work.”

Dr Amoako also developed COMPASS, or Community Parents Navigating Support for Early Childhood Cancer Detection, a community-driven program designed to reduce delays in childhood cancer diagnosis.

The programme trains parents of childhood cancer survivors and primary health care workers to recognse warning signs, guide families through referrals, and connect children with specialized services. Its digital platform tracks suspected and confirmed cases, referral timelines, and stage at diagnosis. In its first months, COMPASS trained 10 parent navigators and 100 health care workers and reached more than 1,000 people through community outreach.

Beyond her clinical work, Dr Amoako is working to address the underrepresentation of African patients in the evidence used to guide cancer diagnosis and treatment through her work with Yemaachi Biotech.

People of African ancestry account for only a small fraction of global cancer genomic datasets, limiting the applicability of many advances in precision medicine. Through The African Cancer Atlas (TACA), one of the continent’s largest cancer genomics initiatives, she is helping build a comprehensive genomic and clinical resource using tumor and matched normal samples from thousands of African patients.

The initiative aims to generate evidence that better represents African populations, strengthen precision oncology, and accelerate discoveries that improve patient care across the continent.

Dr Amoako is currently a Cancer Genetics Fellow at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, where she is receiving advanced training that she plans to apply in Ghana to strengthen childhood cancer diagnosis, cancer genetics, and precision oncology.