Damalie Akuamoah is the Clinical Trial Diversity Program Lead at Merck & Co., driving the global strategy to enhance diversity and inclusion across cardiovascular, infectious disease, and vaccine clinical trials. Her mission ensures participant populations reflect the communities they serve. Akuamoah chairs Merck’s Diversity in Clinical Trials Global Perspective Working Group, facilitating international collaboration on best practices and localized solutions for inclusive trials. With over a decade at Merck, Damalie has held roles as an Epidemiology Scientist and Clinical Scientist, leading and supporting global observational and clinical studies various therapeutic areas. Prior to Merck, she coordinated The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s infection control and prevention hand hygiene initiative and served as an epidemiology research assistant with the Adolescent Initiative, a program supporting HIV-positive and high-risk adolescents in accessing care, research, and social supportive services. Damalie earned a Bachelor of Science from City College of New York, CUNY, and a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from Drexel University. Passionate about uplifting underserved communities, she mentors students through the City College Colin Powell Mentoring program. Damalie enjoys spending time with family, dancing to afrobeat music, backyard gardening, and exploring different cultures through travel while championing diversity and inclusion in clinical research.
