The UMAPS program has helped retain and strengthen its faculty alumni in African institutions of higher education and empowered them to contribute to international academic networks and set their own research agendas in response to global challenges. ASC highlights some of the UMAPS alumni experiences and accomplishments below.
Podcast highlighting the UMAPS program
The episode explores current efforts to increase the representation of Africa-based authors in international journals and what more can be done. We address the importance of publishing in these journals for career opportunities, and what declining rates of acceptance for Africa-based academics means for scholarship from the continent.
Speakers: Ryan Briggs, Christine Feak, Henrike Florusbosch, Felix Mukwiza Ndahinda, Andy Nobes, Naomi Pendle
UMAPS scholars and mentors share their experiences
On why UMAPS was a memorable experience for the scholars’ research, growth, and development.
Speakers: UMAPS alumni Emmanuel Danquah, 2009-10 Scholar (Ghana); Anne Oguttu, 2008-09 Scholar (South Africa); Telteltee Sayndee, 2010-11 Scholar (Liberia); David Kenkpen, 2010-11 Scholar (Liberia); and Ruth Mampane, 2010-11 Scholar (South Africa)
Jody Lori and Veronica Dzomeku on their collaboration
Jody Lori is associate dean in global affairs and community engagement, and professor of nursing. She is the U-M faculty collaborator to Veronica Dzomeku, 2017-2018 UMAPS, and a senior lecturer and head of nursing at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi in Ghana.
It was such a pleasure to mentor such an extraordinary young scholar. Veronica and I worked closely together in Ghana on a research project and I was immediately struck by her intellect and passion for innovative healthcare solutions. UMAPS provided her the resources, time, and mentorship needed to develop a successful National Institutes of Health (NIH) proposal and launch her research career as a nurse-scientist. (Jodi Lori)
Being a UMAPS scholar was a great experience, and having Prof. Jody Lori as a mentor and working with her and her team was marvelous. I really had a life changing experience as a UMAPS scholar, and given the opportunity, I would do it all again. (Veronica Dzomeku)
Lilian Duku (Ghana), 2013-14 Scholar
Lilian Duku, an assistant lecturer in hematology at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana, proposed to pursue research in blood transfusion science. During her six-month stay, she received training in antibody screening and identification as a means of improving the safety of blood transfusions and reducing alloimmunization rates. Interested in reducing morbidity and mortality among patients with sickle cell disease back home in Ghana, she spent part of her residency analyzing the success rate of the antigen matching program at the U-M Blood Bank. She discovered that antigen matching reduced the alloimmunization rates in patients here by a full 50%. Armed with this knowledge, she is determined to introduce antigen matching back home in Ghana to improve sickle cell treatment (which afflicts 25% of the Ghanaian population, in contrast to only 1% of the US population). The short video above features Lilian's work at U-M.
