Context and Research Capacity Enhancement in Africa

Short Bio

Professor Marfo has pursued his 42-year career in six universities: Aga Khan University, University of South Florida, Kent State University, Memorial University of Newfoundland, University of Alberta, and University of Cape Coast, Ghana. His scholarly interests include developmental science and childhood interventions, advancement of a global field of human development, and philosophical issues in behavioral science and education research. He has published extensively on early child development, childhood disability, early intervention efficacy, parent-child interaction, and behavioral development in children adopted into North America from China.

He was co-convener of an invitational conference on strengthening child development research in Africa that culminated in the publication of six articles on the subject in Child Development Perspectives (2011, Volume 5, pp. 104-147). With Alan Pence, Robert Serpell, and Bame Nsamenang, he facilitated the African Scholars Workshop initiative to enhance research capacity in Africa. With Linda Richter and Lynette Okengo, he facilitated the launch of a research mentorship programme under the auspices of the Africa Early Childhood Network. Under his leadership, the Institute for Human Development at Aga Khan University launched pre- and post-doctoral training initiatives to prepare future generations of researchers.

Kofi has been a Residential Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, a U.S. National Academy of Education Spencer Fellow, a member of the Bio-Behavioral and Behavioral Sciences Subcommittee of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (USA), and a member of the Governing Council of the Society for Research in Child Development.