Biography of Prof. Elsie Effah Kaufmann

Professor Elsie Effah Kaufmann is a renowned Biomedical Engineer, a Senior Lecturer and Founding Head of Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Ghana, Legon and the famed Quiz Mistress of Ghana’s National Science and Maths Quiz Television Program.

Elsie Effah Kaufmann was born in the year 1969, in Assin in the Central Region of Ghana, and had her basic education in the same town. Professor Elsie had her Secondary education at Aburi Girls’ Senior High School where she studied General Science. In 1988 Professor Elsie had a scholarship to do an International Baccalaureate Diploma at the United World College (UWC) of the Atlantic in Wales.

There after, Prof. Elsie obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering (BSE) at the University of Pennsylvania. Having a knack for Academia, Prof. Kaufmann proceeded with a Master of Science in Engineering (MSc.E) at the same department at University of Pennsylvania.

University of Pennsylvania became her home of academic pursuit, and there was no way she could leave there without obtaining her PhD. While undertaking her doctorate, Prof. Elsie served as a Teaching Assistant at the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Prof. Elsie had a postdoctoral training at Rutgers University, USA serving as a research supervisor at the Department of Chemistry before joining the University of Ghana in 2001.

In 2006, Prof. Elsie started hosting the famous National and Science Quiz, a job she’s really good at.

Prof. Elsie was the first woman appointed to head the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Ghana, Legon, and has headed that department from 2006-2012 and 2014-2016.

While serving as a lecture Prof. Elsie has also served in other varying capacity at the University. One as a member of University of Ghana’s Planning Committee established by the Academic Board to see to the successful establishment of the University’s Faculty of Engineering Sciences, and secondly as a member of the three-person Implementation Committee established by the school’s VC.

Prof Elsie also served as a representative of the non-professorial academic staff on the University Council of the University of Ghana (UG) for four years. She is also a Board member of the British International School, Ghana, as well as a Board member of the African Gifted Foundation Ghana (African Science Academy).

Currently, Prof. Kaufmann is the President of the Ghana Society of Biomedical Engineers, Quiz Mistress of Ghana’s National Science and Maths Quiz Television Program, and Associate Professor at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, UG, Legon.

Personal Life

Prof Elsie is a proud mother of three Children; two girls and a boy

Honours and Awards

Prof. Elsie has been recognised and honoured at both national and International level for her contribution to knowledge and her unparalleled work in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The following are some of the honours received by her;

University of Ghana Best Teacher Award for the Sciences (2009)

2. Winner of International Women’s Forum Leadership Foundation Fellowship (2011)

3. Impact Africa Summit Laureate for Education in Ghana (2017)

4. National Society of Black Engineers’ (NSBE) Golden Torch Award for International Academic Leadership purposely to recognize her excellent support in academics on an international level and exhibition of commitment to the STEM fields (2018)

Research Interests

Design of scaffolds for tissue engineering applications

Characterization of natural materials (including cassava fibre)

Engineering Design

Engineering Education.

Application of Biomedical Engineering concepts to addressing problems in the Ghanaian context. For instance, the use of biomaterials in Ghana

Some Notable Publications

1. E.A.B. Effah Kaufmann, P. Ducheyne, I.M. Shapiro, “Evaluation of osteoblast response to porous bioactive glass (45S5) substrates by RT-PCR analysis,” Tissue Engineering 6(1), 19-28 (2000).

2. E.A.B. Effah Kaufmann, P. Ducheyne, I.M. Shapiro, “The effect of varying physical properties of porous, surface modified bioactive glass 45S5 on osteoblast proliferation and maturation,” J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 52(4), 783-796 (2000).

3. Godfrey A. Mills, Thomas A. Nketia, Isaac A. Oppong, Elsie Effah Kaufmann, “Wireless Digital Stethoscope Using Bluetooth Technology,” International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology, 4(8), 3961-3969 (2012).

4. Kathleen H. Sienko, Elsie Effah Kaufmann, Moses Musaazi, Amir Sabet Sarvestani, Samuel Obed, “Obstetrics-Based Clinical Immersion of a Multinational Team of Biomedical Engineering Students in Ghana,” International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 127(2), 218-220 (2014).

5. Ibrahim Mohedas, Elsie Effah Kaufmann, Shanna R. Daly, Kathleen H. Sienko, “Ghanaian undergraduate biomedical engineering students’ perceptions of their discipline and career opportunities,” Global Journal of Engineering Education 17(1), 34-41 (2015).

References

“Past Winners | NSMQ”. ghanascholarship.Net.
“Elsie Effah Kaufmann”. ug-gh.academia.edu. University of Ghana.
http://www.wikipedia.com

Limitless Motivation

Changing the World one Article at a time