Tag: bioengineering

David Issadore, a faculty member in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania teaches an engineering course ENGR566 – Appropriate Point of Care Diagnostics. As part of this course, he and Miriam Wattenberger from CBE, have taken nine Penn students, most of them majoring in Bioengineering, to Kumasi, Ghana, to study the diagnosis of pediatric tuberculosis. While in Ghana, these students are blogging daily on their experiences.

As we woke up early to prepare for the nine-hour flight ahead of us, we all acknowledged that time really does fly. Arriving at the Accra airport, we had to say goodbye to our Ghanaian friends Salim, Uncle Ebo, and Nana Yaa. The month has come and gone. It feels like the trip went quickly, but we have learned so much and gained many valuable experiences along the way. From our hospital and clinic visits, to our interactions with an herbalist and a fetish priestess, we were exposed to many healthcare settings found in Ghana. We had the opportunity to present our pediatric tuberculosis diagnostic ideas to a room filled with researchers and clinicians, getting invaluable feedback from multiple experts. Along with our academic pursuits, we also got to explore the Ghanaian culture and learn about customs, traditions, food, and much more. We met many friendly people along the way. These aspects are the memories that we will remember for years to come. As we move beyond this course, we are excited to continue pursuing our interests in biomedical diagnostics and problem solving that can be applied globally. We would like to thank everyone who helped make this unforgettable experience possible.

David Issadore, a faculty member in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania teaches an engineering course ENGR566 – Appropriate Point of Care Diagnostics. As part of this course, he and Miriam Wattenberger from CBE, have taken nine Penn students, most of them majoring in Bioengineering, to Kumasi, Ghana, to study the diagnosis of pediatric tuberculosis. While in Ghana, these students are blogging daily on their experiences.

Today marked our last full day in Ghana. In the morning, we set off rather early to start our day in Accra. But first, we had to drop one of our students, Dave, at the airport so he could make his way to Rwanda to visit a college friend. As we traveled to the airport, we had the opportunity to get a better picture of what life is like in Ghana’s capital. It was nice to go back to Accra and see how different it was from Kumasi. It is a much larger city, with various government buildings, people walking about, and large advertising signs every few yards.

Our first stop was the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park. Kwame Nkrumah was the first president of Ghana when the country gained independence in 1957. Interestingly, he went to Penn to earn a Master of Arts in philosophy and a Master of Science in education. The mausoleum in Accra contains his and his wife’s bodies. It is surrounded by various water fountains, which are a symbol of life to provide a sense of immortality for Nkrumah. Many Ghanaians want to continue the work that Nkrumah did not get to finish by helping Ghana to continue developing as an independent country. In addition, there is a museum that contains many of his clothes and pictures of him as he met with various world leaders. We even saw a picture of him on Penn’s campus, shaking the hand of then Vice Provost Roy Nichols.

After the tour, we met Dr. Ellis from KCCR for lunch at a nice open-air restaurant, called Buka. Many of us stuck to our favorites of chicken and fried plantains, but some ventured out to try guinea fowl and snails. After lunch, we walked around the area to some nearby vendors, where we were able to shop for last minute gifts. We soon realized how much more expensive Accra was, compared to Kumasi.

We headed back to the hotel to relax a bit before dinner. For our last night in Ghana, we went out to a restaurant that had a live jazz band. We had our last taste of Ghanaian cuisine and had fun dancing to highlife music. Highlife is a genre of music that we only recently learned is popular in both Ghana and Nigeria. To end our last night in Ghana, we headed back to the hotel. After spending some time to prepare, we huddled in the hotel’s lobby for our talent show, and as night turned into morning, we reluctantly headed to our rooms to finish packing for our early departure.

by Ethan Zhao, Bioengineering ’19; and Jason Grosz, Bioengineering ’19

David Issadore, a faculty member in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania teaches an engineering course ENGR566 – Appropriate Point of Care Diagnostics. As part of this course, he and Miriam Wattenberger from CBE, have taken nine Penn students, most of them majoring in Bioengineering, to Kumasi, Ghana, to study the diagnosis of pediatric tuberculosis. While in Ghana, these students are blogging daily on their experiences.

Today was the second day that we spent in the coastal city of Cape Coast. Many of us woke up earlier than usual to walk along the beach and explore the resort. While walking along the beach, we noticed large rowboats in the distance that were anchored to the shore by ropes. We originally thought that they were fishing boats, but it turned out that they were digging up sand from the ocean floor to restore sand erosion on the beach.

After breakfast, we traveled outside of Cape Coast to Kakum National Park, which is a dense tropical rainforest on the coast that is home to many wildlife species, including monkeys, leopards, elephants, and antelope. It is also the home of one of Africa’s largest canopy walkways, consisting of rope suspension bridges more than one hundred feet above the forest floor. The views from the bridges were amazing, as we could see for miles across the tops of the rainforest trees. While we were on the bridges, it started drizzling, which was refreshing given the heat. After leaving Kakum National Park, we drove back to Accra, the capital of Ghana, where we will stay for the remainder of our trip.

by Dave Pontoriero, Biotechnology MS ’18

David Issadore, a faculty member in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania teaches an engineering course ENGR566 – Appropriate Point of Care Diagnostics. As part of this course, he and Miriam Wattenberger from CBE, have taken nine Penn students, most of them majoring in Bioengineering, to Kumasi, Ghana, to study the diagnosis of pediatric tuberculosis. While in Ghana, these students are blogging daily on their experiences.

Today, we said goodbye to our Kumasi friends and left the Ashanti region for the final leg of our trip. After our bonus night in the new student hostel (dormitory), we boarded the KNUST bus for a six-hour road trip to Cape Coast. The drive was pleasant, and the scenery became more coastal as we continued. Most people slept through it, but once the ocean became visible, everyone woke up in excitement because we knew we were getting close to Elmina, a beach town just west of Cape Coast.

As we drove through the town, we noticed that it resembled many of the beach towns back home. Our driver, Uncle Ebo, then parked in front of an enormous white castle. It was located on the edge of a peninsula, with a narrow beach to its left and crashing waves to its right. It had cannons situated all along its upper levels and a bustling group of locals hanging out in front of its entrance. It was the Elmina Slave Castle, also known as St. George’s Castle, and the team started to prepare for the tour.

As we entered the castle, the mood became somber. A tour guide provided us with a background of the building, which was a Dutch fort used over the years to facilitate the sale and transport of people from Ghana and the surrounding countries during the slave trade. The first portion of the tour followed the path of a slave during their internment, beginning with the female quarters, then the courtyards used for public punishment, the male quarters, punishment cells, and lastly the final exit where people were loaded onto the ships for their journey across the Atlantic. It was a grim tour to take, and the guide shared some incredibly harrowing stories throughout. The second portion of the tour focused more on other aspects of the fort.

Once we loaded back onto the bus, the team reflected on the experience we had at Elmina Castle as we drove away. After a half-hour drive, we soon arrived to our new rooms at a local beachfront resort called Coconut Grove. Its beautiful facility included a private beach, an ocean-facing restaurant/bar, beachfront swings, a golf course, horse stables, and a crocodile pond (with ~10 real crocodiles!). We went out to a local restaurant with live music, danced a bit, then headed home to enjoy the amenities during one of our last nights together as a team.

by Danielle Tsougarakis, Bioengineering ’20; and Kate Panzer, Bioengineering ’18

David Issadore, a faculty member in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania teaches an engineering course ENGR566 – Appropriate Point of Care Diagnostics. As part of this course, he and Miriam Wattenberger from CBE, have taken nine Penn students, most of them majoring in Bioengineering, to Kumasi, Ghana, to study the diagnosis of pediatric tuberculosis. While in Ghana, these students are blogging daily on their experiences.

This morning, we found out that we would be spending our last night in Kumasi in a hostel, which is equivalent to a dormitory at a U.S. college. We packed our belongings and moved into a hostel called “Complex Brunei,” which is an apartment-style dorm for upperclassmen, each room furnished with three beds, a closet, a full bathroom, and a table. We were all excited to get the student experience of staying in a hostel and compare it to the visitor housing at the KCCR guesthouse.

In the afternoon, we had the opportunity to visit the international community school (ICS),  a high school founded on the philosophy of bringing competitive, Western-inspired education to Kumasi. A friend of our team member Dave currently works at ICS and suggested we come speak to the prospective college students at the school. That being said, we gave a presentation on how the college application process works in the United States to a group of 10th and 12th graders. After our brief overview, we split into small groups and answered individual questions students had regarding different types of universities, SAT/ACT scores, the importance of a strong essay, and other application essentials. Speaking with the prospective students here and motivating them to apply to American universities was a great experience. Sharing our own college application processes and stories with the students was a fun and engaging way to fuel their academic aspirations. After our well-received presentation, the whole team left feeling accomplished.

For dinner, we had a special surprise outing to a nearby Chinese restaurant, where we shared many different dishes and passed them around on a rotating glass platform. For some of the Ghanaians, this was their first time trying Chinese food, so it was fun to hear their reviews of all the dishes. Upon returning to campus, we continued our beloved tradition of team bonding by playing the Noun Game and card games.

by Kaila Helm, Biological Basis of Behavior ’20;  Kathleen Givan, Bioengineering and Political Science ’20; Katharine Cocherl, Bioengineering ’20; and Hope McMahon, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering ’18

David Issadore, a faculty member in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania teaches an engineering course ENGR566 – Appropriate Point of Care Diagnostics. As part of this course, he and Miriam Wattenberger from CBE, have taken nine Penn students, most of them majoring in Bioengineering, to Kumasi, Ghana, to study the diagnosis of pediatric tuberculosis. While in Ghana, these students are blogging daily on their experiences.

We started our not-so-lazy Sunday with a late start. We enjoyed our last weekend breakfast, provided by the one and only Nana Yaa. A fan favorite is always the avocados and the Milo, which we know we will miss dearly when we get back to the States. Luckily, we all have our personal stashes we plan on bringing back. We all had the much-needed opportunity to do laundry and catch up on life errands. Once mid-afternoon hit, we all decompressed by watching the Ghanaian vs. Ethiopian National Football teams on the television in a nearby dorm. GHANA WON THE FIFA QUALIFIER AND THE CROWD WENT WILD!!!!!

The next thing on the agenda was our farewell ceremony and dinner. We were instructed to wear our Ghanaian clothing that had been made for us during the trip, but some of us had not yet received the alterations back from the seamstress. When Nana arrived, clothes in hand, it was exhilarating to see the final products and wear similar colorfully patterned clothes to our Ghanaian counterparts.

The meal was catered by our favorite kebab stand, along with drinks, tilapia, and banku (the classic combination). Many of the people who have contributed immensely to our trip were there, and we enjoyed good conversation and memories into the night. We were put to shame as we watched the children dance their hearts out, using more rhythm and soul than we would know what to do with. It was so nice to see the program come full circle. We all looked back fondly at the welcome ceremony, where all the faces were unfamiliar but kind. Fast forward to the farewell ceremony, and this time, we saw the same faces and smiles, but now we felt connected to the people behind them.