Tangwa Godfrey Banyuy

Prof. Godfrey Banyuy Tangwa, PhD, is Professor Emeritus and former Head of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Yaounde 1, Cameroon. He attended the Universities of Nigeria in Nsukka, Ife in Ile-Ife, and Ibadan in Ibadan, all in Nigeria. His doctoral specialization is in the area of epistemology and metaphysics and his teaching and research interests include African philosophy and Bioethics. He was a post-doctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University (2002) under the Fogarty International Research Ethics Training Program for Scientists from sub-Saharan Africa. He lectured at the University of Ife from 1978-1986 and joined the University of Yaounde in 1987 as a Senior Lecturer. He is a member of the International Association of Bioethics (IAB) since it started in 1992; was on its Board of Directors from 1997 to 2003; and served as Vice-President of the Board between 1999 and 2001. He was instrumental in the founding of the Pan-African Bioethics Initiative (PABIN) in 2001 and created the Cameroon chapter of PABIN, Cameroon Bioethics Initiative (CAMBIN) in 2005, of which he is the current Vice-Chairperson.

He has been an adviser to the WHO since 2000 and successively a member of its Scientific and Ethical Review Group (SERG) of the Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (2001), and member of the WHO-UNAIDS HIV Vaccine Advisory Initiative (VAC) (2004). He participated in the writing of the WHO Ethical and Safety Guidance Notes for Research with Adolescents (2011) and the CIOMS/WHO International Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research Involving Human Subjects (2002). He has equally been invited and contributed expertise to the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), Grand Challenges in Global Health (GCGH), GlaxoSmithKline Bioethics Advisory Group, South African Research Ethics Training Initiative (SARETI, 2006-date), and Hoffmann-La Roche’s Science and Ethics Advisory Group (SEAG, 2005-2023). He was invited (2009) to participate in the review work of the International Code of Ethics for Occupational Health Professionals of the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) as co-chair of the Africa region review group and as the commissioned writer of the basic theoretical text for the Code review entitled “The Fundamental Principles of Ethics”.

Prof. Tangwa has frequently given special lectures, participated in conferences, symposia, workshops,  and  examined  academic  theses.  He  has  supervised  Masters, DEA (Diplome d’Etudes Approfondis) and PhD dissertations for scores of students. He is a member of several ethics review committees both in Cameroon and abroad. He participated as a member of the international faculty in the diploma programme of the International Research Ethics Network for Southern Africa (IRENSA) from 2003-2011.
He has over 100 publications to his credit including 11 books, about 35 book chapters, and over 70 articles in reputable peer-reviewed academic journals. He is passionate about bringing a genuine indigenous African perspective to global research and bioethics and decolonizing research and development in Africa.