Our Mission and Values
The mission of the Ghana Bioinnovation Initiative is to improve healthcare outcomes in West Africa by developing and supporting locally driven biomedical innovation. We aim to empower healthcare workers and entrepreneurs with the tools, training, and infrastructure needed to design, build, and deploy medical technologies suited to the unique conditions of rural clinics. Through interdisciplinary collaboration, we seek to bridge the gap between technological advancement and healthcare accessibility, ensuring that all communities benefit from high-quality care.
Our values are rooted in partnership, equity, and sustainability. We believe that lasting impact comes from solutions created by those who understand the challenges firsthand. By fostering a culture of open dialogue, inclusive development, and shared learning between Northeastern University, Academic City University, and our partners in Ghana, we strive to cultivate an ecosystem where local innovation can thrive. We are committed to creating opportunities that not only enhance healthcare delivery but also contribute to economic empowerment and long-term resilience in the region.
Our Journey
Initial Engagement in Ghana
The Northeastern College of Engineering sponsored a fact-finding trip to Ghana by Bioengineering faculty members. The trip included visits to Hospitals and Clinics and rural villages. Faculty presented workshops to students at the University of Ghana, Department of Biomedical Engineering and had meetings with the Minister of Health and His Majesty Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin (Okyenhene).
Development of the Smallwood Device
The need for simple respiratory care devices – always a challenge in rural clinics – became accute during the Pandemic. With less than 200 ventilators in the entire country of Ghana, simple solutions needed to be found. Dr. Craig Smallwood, who received BS, MS and PhD degrees from Northeastern University and became a respiratory care specialist at Children’s Hospital in Boston designed and built a very simple device to support respiratory function. Five prototypes were shipped to Korle Bu Hospital in Accra and Robert Djagletey, Head of Anaesthesiology, used them to wean patients off Ventilators, deomonstrating their simplicity and broad utility. After Dr. Smallwood’s untimely death, the device was named after him. Over the next two years, 20-30 of the Smallwood Devices were distributed to rural hospitals and clinics in Ghana and several clinics in Zambia and Tanzania. Extensive testing at Asamankese Government Hospital demonstrated the breadth of respiratory conditions that could be improved with the Device.
Formation of 4GBI & National Symposium
Dr. Robert Djagbletey and co-workers at Korle Bu hospital, Northeastern University and other institutions in Ghana and America, published a paper on the use of the Smallwood Device for respiratory support in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery. 4GBI was incorporated as a nonprofit to support and scale device development and deployment. The team staged a major Bioinnovation Summit in Ghana on December 6-8, 2022. His Majesty Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin (King of Akyem Abuakwa in the Eastern Region of Ghana) encouraged healthcare workers to attend a workshop in rural Ghana on December 6th and to speak freely about the working conditions, instruments and equipment in the clinics and hospitals in the region. His Majesty delivered the Welcome Address. The Summit continued on December 8, with a Symposium in Accra attended by about 125 sector leaders who discussed partnerships and plans to push this initiative forward.
Launching the Bioinnovation Center
Launching the Bioinnovation Center: Building on the momentum of the Bioinnovation Summit, and the Strategic partnerships formed there, Northeastern University initiated discussions with Academic City University to create a center focused on medical innovation, research, and capacity building in Ghana.
Establishment of the Bioinnovation Center
With support from the Holsinger Family Foundation, the Bioinnovation Center was launched. The Director of the Center, Dr. Danyuo Yiporo was recruited and moved to Academic City. Space for the Center was identified and developed on the Academic City University Campus. A meeting with the Director General of the Ghana Health Service spawned the idea of an Exposition to feature the innovative ideas and projects ongoing in the Universities, Hospitals and Companies of West Africa in order to familiarize Government Officials with the new ideas and opportunities that these projects represent.
Medical Innovation Expo 2025
Plans for the Medical Innovation EXPO were initiated and are ongoing with a goal of a three-day event October 13-15, 2025.
