EPI GRADUATE GETS PhD in BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

Eric Gaba, an EPI recipient and a 2015 EPI graduate from the University of Ghana, has been awarded a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering. He has the distinction of being the first to receive this degree from the University of Ghana as well as the first to receive it in the country.

Eric’s research focused on the area of application of materials in prosthetics and orthotics. For his thesis, he discovered how plant fiber, a local material, can be used as an alternative for prosthetic socket design. Currently, only expensive synthetic fiber is used, which must be imported.

Eric is also the co-founder of Rehab Africa, a non-governmental research organization that focuses on finding alternative materials for fabricating prosthetic and orthotic devices using materials that are locally available in the region.