University of Ghana Receives Delegation from Sanford World Clinics

WAGMC News Hub

November 25, 2021

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo with the delegation

On Monday, November 15 2021, a delegation from Sanford Health and Sanford World Clinics led by Dr. David Pearce, President, Sanford World Clinics, Innovation and Research, paid a courtesy call on the Vice-Chancellor Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo.

Introducing the purpose of the visit, the Dean of the School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences (SBAHS) and Director, West African Genetic Medicine Centre (WAGMC), Prof. Fiifi Ofori-Acquah, said the Sanford delegation was visiting Ghana as part of their partnership talks with WAGMC.

In brief welcome remarks, the Vice-Chancellor thanked the Sanford Health delegation for the contribution being made by their institution to improve the health of people living in Ghana. She assured the delegation that WAGMC will deliver on the terms of the collaboration currently being developed by the two parties, and said she looked forward to seeing tangible products from the partnership. She then hosted the visiting delegation to lunch at the Vice-Chancellor’s Lodge.

Earlier, the WAGMC and Sanford teams visited SBAHS, Korle Bu, where Prof. Ofori-Acquah and Dr. Pearce gave overviews of WAGMC and Sanford Health respectively.

Sanford Health is one of the largest integrated health care delivery systems in the United States, with its headquarters in Sioux Falls, Dakota. It launched its World Clinics initiative in 2007 to provide sustainable health care services, ranging from primary and pediatric care, to research, and health system operations through partnerships with health care leaders across the world. In Ghana, Sanford World Clinic has been working in partnership with the Ministry of Health, local communities, and Sanford Health Foundation donors since 2011 to build a sustainable health care in the urban and rural communities across the country

Dr. William Kudzi explaining the WAGMC biorepository to the WAGMC and Sanford Health Team.

The Sanford Health delegation included James Slack, Vice President, Sanford World Clinics; Brian Dehaai, Senior Director, Operations, Sanford World Clinics; Dr. Chun-Hung Chan, Director, Special Projects Sanford Health;  Kojo Benjamin Taylor, President, Sanford Health Ghana and Dr. Kwaku Darkwa, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Sanford Health Ghana.

Others at the event included Prof. Kwesi Torpey, Acting Dean of School of Public Health, representing the Provost, College of Health Sciences; Prof. Lorna Renner, WAGMC Deputy Director; Dr. Yvonne Dei-Adomakoh, WAGMC Sectorial Liaison Officer; Dr. William Kudzi, WAGMC Monitoring and Evaluations Officer; Dr. Esther Brobbey, WAGMC Environmental and Social Safeguards Officer; Ms. Melissa Nuno, WAGMC Project Manager/Administrator and faculty and staff of WAGMC