We are happy to announce the recipients of the 2021 Undergraduate Research Award. This year, we received applications from several tertiary institutions across Ghana. After thorough review, the following research being conducted by the amazing undergraduate students were chosen to receive the TiDi Foundation 2021 Undergraduate Research Award. Congratulations to the recipients.
My name is Marfo Edmond, a final year student of the University of Ghana, Legon. My research project is titled the Prevalence rate of Prospective Blood Donors at the Southern Area Blood Bank and my project supervisor is Dr. Ransford Kyeremeh at the Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences.
Blood transfusion is a routine life-saving medical practice in which donated blood is provided to patients with severe anaemia. Glucose 6 Phosphate Dehydrogenase (G6PD) Deficiency is an X-Linked enzyme disorder and Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest prevalence rate. In Ghana, the WHO estimates the prevalence rate to be 15-26%. Such high rates suggest that G6PD Deficient individuals may unknowingly find themselves among donor population. Our interest therefore is in finding the rate of G6PD prevalence among the blood donor population.
One of the challenges I faced in this research was how to fund this project since the number of samples I intended on testing was exceedingly large. Thankfully, TiDi Foundation fund came to help me foot some of the bills and I remain exceedingly grateful.
I have a desire to pursue further research on the G6PD Deficiency in my postgraduate level. I envision a future where mutations in the G6PD gene which leads on to the deficiency can be fixed using molecular technology tools.
My name is Philomina Kugblenu, currently in my final year at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). I’m working on the project topic Determinants of gestational diabetes among pregnant women from selected hospitals in Kumasi with Dr. Mrs. Ivy Wina Ofori Boadu. We’re interested in identifying the various risk factors associated with gestational diabetes. The major challenges I faced while working on this project included financial difficulties in buying reagents and transportations to the various hospitals for the data collection since the hospitals are very far from the campus. The funding from TIDI foundation has been of great help because it has really help me solve the financial difficulties regarding my project work. Thank you TIDI foundation for your great support, I hope the foundation keeps supporting research students in the advancement of science.
I am Isaiah Osei Duah Junior; a final year undergraduate student from the Department of Optometry and Visual Science, at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, in Kumasi, Ghana. My research dissertation focuses on the Clinical characteristics of External Ocular and Periocular Infections and their Antimicrobial Susceptibility pattern among a Ghanaian Ophthalmic Population; a Multi-Center Cross-sectional Study. The multidisciplinary research has received intellectual supervision from various faculty advisors in sundry disciplines across the university community. It is worth highlighting the support from Dr. Tchiakpe Michel Pascal, Dr. Kwadwo Owusu Akuffo, Dr. David Ben Kumah; Department of Optometry and Visual Science, Dr. Lawrence Sheringham Borquaye; Department of Chemistry, Dr. Linda Ofori; Department of Theoretical and Applied Biology, Dr. Kwadwo Amoah; Department of Ophthalmology, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Mr. Francis Amankwah, and Professor Stephen Gbedema; Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Of note, whiles I have greatly enjoyed pursuing this research which has offered me a laboratory experience (absolutely critical for graduate studies) and strategically position me to engage in interdisciplinary research in the foreseeable future, I have faced a hurdle of financial constraints. Given the estimated budget (worth GH¢8,000 » 1, 382 USD) I was challenged to seek an alternate source of funding to materialize this project. Contrarily, I am not only glad to have been a recipient of the 2021 TiDi Foundation Undergraduate Research Grant; which provides financial research assistantship, but also the fact that my application was selected from a large pool of submissions from applicants in various tertiary institutions across the country. This accentuates the novelty, intellectual merits, broader impact of my dissertation. On this note, I applaud TiDi Foundation on this initiative, and I hope this award motivates future undergraduates to pursue a thoughtful project with sustainable benefit to society.
