2015-2016 UMAPS Alumni

Semeneh Asfaw
U-M African Presidential Scholar 2015-16
Faculty Member, Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia

sasfaw@umich.edu • miresemeneh@gmail.com

Semeneh Asfaw is a faculty member at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies at the Addis Ababa University, with a research focus on urban social change and revolution. Also is a doctoral candidate at the Makerere Institute of Social Research in Uganda, his research interests include revolution, revolutionary terminology, cultural history, and popular culture. He wil work with Mike McGovern, associate professor of anthropology.

Sisay Addisu Bekele
U-M African Presidential Scholar 2015-16
Lecturer, Department of Biochemistry, Addis Ababa University School of Medicine, Ethiopia

sbekele@umich.edu • sisay.addisu@aau.edu.et

Sisay Addisu Bekele is a Lecturer in the Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. He holds a Master of Science degree in Biochemistry from Addis Ababa University and doctoral candidate currently working on the characterization of subtypes and gene variations among female breast cancer cases in Ethiopia. His research interests include molecular biology and bioinformatics. He plans to work with Dr. Sofia Merajver, Professor of Internal Medicine and Epidemiology.

Vangile Bingma (Moody UMAPS Scholar)
U-M African Presidential Scholar 2015-16 
Lecturer, Department of Sociology, University of Pretoria, South Africa

vbingma@umich.edu • vangile.bingma@gmail.com

Vangile Bingma  is a Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at University of Pretoria in South Africa. She specializes in the sociology of education. While at U-M, she will continue working on her dissertation to explore the relationships between parents, learners, and a township secondary school in the Tshwane South District in South Africa. She will work with Barbara Anderson, Ronald A. Freedman Collegiate Professor of Sociology and Population Studies. 

Adey Desta
U-M African Presidential Scholar 2015-16
Assistant Professor, Institute of Biotechnology, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia

adesta@umich.edu • adey.desta@gmail.com

Adey Desta is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Biotechnology at Addis Ababa University. While at U-M, she will work on characterizing pathogenic microorganisms that proliferate during the production of a urine-derived fertilizer, struvite. She will be co-mentored by Nancy Love, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Krista Wigginton, Borchardt and Glysson Water Treatment Faculty Scholar at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Akye Essuman
U-M African Presidential Scholar 2015-16
Lecturer and Head of Family Medicine Unit, Department of Community Health, University of Ghana

essumana@umich.edu • akyessuman@yahoo.com

Akye Essuman is a Lecturer and the Head of Family Medicine Unit at the University of Ghana in the Department of Community Health. His research interest focuses on the role of family medicine in the health delivery system in Ghana. Dr. Essuman will explore the mechanisms of collaboration with the U-M Department of Family Medicine to establish the first geriatric fellowship program in Ghana. He will work with Dr. Philip Zazove, Professor of Family Medicine, and Dr. Katy Gold, Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and Obstetrics & Gynecology. 

Yonatan Fessha (Moody UMAPS Scholar)
U-M African Presidential Scholar 2015-16
Associate Professor of Law, Department of Public Law and Jurisprudence, University of Western Cape, South Africa

yonatanf@umich.edu • yfessha@gmail.com

Yonatan Fessha is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Western Cape in South Africa specializing in Constitutional Law. While at U-M, he will focus on institutional design of states on the African continent and how it can be used to respond to the challenges of minorities within minorities. His mentor will be Daniel Halberstam, the Eric Stein Collegiate Professor of Law and Director of the European Legal Studies Program. 

Joy Gumikiriza
U-M African Presidential Scholar 2015-16
Lecturer, Department of Psychology, Makerere University, Uganda

jgumikir@umich.edu • joyonoria@gmail.com

Joy Gumikiriza is a Lecturer of Psychology at Makerere University in Uganda.  Joy specializes in the treatment of alcohol and substance-related mental illness. During her time at U-M, she will focus on a Behavior Self Control Intervention to reduce alcohol abuse among HIV positive youths in Uganda. Kristen Barry, Research Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, is her mentor.

Endale Hadgu
U-M African Presidential Scholar 2015-16
Lecturer, St. Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College, Ethiopia

egebregz@umich.edu • endalehadgu@yahoo.com

Endale Hadgu is a Lecturer in St. Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He holds a Master of Science degree in Medical Biochemistry, and is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Biochemistry at Addis Ababa University School of Medicine specializing in tumor biology. While visiting U-M, he will work with Dr. Sofia Merajver, Professor of Internal Medicine and Epidemiology, on the molecular and genetic characterization of triple negative breast cancer among Ethiopian women.

Elisabeth Mimiafou
U-M African Presidential Scholar 2015-16
Lecturer, Department of English, University of Buea, Cameroon

elisabe@umich.edu • miafoueli@yahoo.com

Elisabeth Mimiafou is a Lecturer in the Department of English at the University of Buea in Cameroon. She received her PhD in African, Caribbean, and American literature from the University of Yaounde. Her research while at U-M will be centered on ecofeminism and black women’s writings. Frieda Ekotto, Professor of Comparative Literature, and Petra Kuppers, Professor of English, will be her U-M faculty mentors.

Emmanuel Miyingo
U-M African Presidential Scholar 2015-16
Lecturer, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Makerere University, Uganda

miyingo@umich.edu • miyingo@yahoo.com

Emmanuel Miyingo is a Lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Makerere University in Uganda. He holds a Master of Science degree in renewable energy from Makerere University. While at U-M, he will work with Roy Clarke, Marcellus L. Wiedenbeck Collegiate Professor and Professor of Physics, to design and develop a hybrid microgrid system using biogas and solar photovoltaic electric systems for peri-urban and rural areas.

Elizabeth Nansubuga
U-M African Presidential Scholar 2015-16
Lecturer, Department of Population Studies, Makerere University, Uganda

enansubu@umich.edu • enansubuga@gmail.com

Elizabeth Nansubuga  is a Lecturer in the Department of Population Studies at Makerere University in Uganda. She holds a Master of Science degree in population and reproductive health from Makerere University, and is also a doctoral candidate in population studies at North West University in South Africa. While at U-M, she will work with Cheryl Moyer, Assistant Professor of Learning Health Sciences and Obstetrics & Gynecology, in research to understand and characterize maternal mortality in Uganda.

Christian Obirikorang
U-M African Presidential Scholar 2015-16
Lecturer, Department of Molecular Medicine, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana

cobiriko@umich.edu • krisobiri@yahoo.com

Christian Obirikorang is a Lecturer in the Department of Molecular Medicine at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana. He holds a PhD in chemical pathology from KNUST. While at U-M, he will work with David Burke, Professor of Human Genetics, to characterize the genetic markers associated with dyslipidemia in HIV- infected individuals who are in Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Treatment (HAART). 

Lawrence Ocen
U-M African Presidential Scholar 2015-16
Lecturer, Lira University College, Uganda

locen@umich.edu • lauryocen70@gmail.com

Lawrence Ocen is a Lecturer at Lira University College in Uganda. He holds a Master of Arts degree in Literature. He also is a PhD graduate fellow at the Makerere University of Social Research in Uganda. His research examines how northern Uganda is reimagined by the agency of war memorials. He will work with Derek Peterson, Professor of History and Afro-American and African Studies, to investigate how forced and selective remembering are countered by ordinary Ugandan people through songs, drama, and mnemonics.

Natasha Ross (Moody UMAPS Scholar)
U-M African Presidential Scholar 2015-16
Lecturer, Department of Chemistry, University of the Western Cape, South Africa

wnatasha@umich.edu • nross@uwc.ac.za

Natasha Ross  is a Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at University of the Western Cape (UWC), in South Africa. She holds a PhD and a Master of Science degree in Electroanalytical Chemistry from UWC. While at U-M, she will continue her research on carbon supported functional nanoparticles for catalysis, electrocatalysis and energy storage applications. Her mentor will be Mark Barteau, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Director of Energy Institute, and DTE Energy Professor of Advanced Energy Research.

Jacques Tagoudjeu
U-M African Presidential Scholar 2015-16
Senior Lecturer, Department of Mathematical and Physical Science, University of Yaounde I National Advanced School of Engineering, Cameroon

jtagoudj@umich.edu • jtagoudjeu@gmail.com

Jacques Tagoudjeu is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mathematical and Physical Science at the National Advanced School of Engineering of the University of Yaounde I in Cameroon. He holds a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Yaounde I. While at U-M, he will work with Dan Burns, Professor of Mathematics, and Nkem Khumbah, Lecturer in Mathematics, on a project to investigate numerically asymptotic limits of kinetic models for cell migration due to chemotaxis.

Léon Tsambu
U-M African Presidential Scholar 2015-16
Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

ltsambu@umich.edu • leon_tsambu@yahoo.com

Léon Tsambu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. His research interests include music and popular culture. Specifically, he examines their links with politics, economics, media; and also qualitative methodology, epistemological and theoretical sociology. He will work with Nancy Hunt, Professor of History and Obstetrics & Gynecology, to publish an article on power and gender relationships on the popular music stage of Kinshasa as a digest of his forthcoming book from his thesis dissertation. His publications include “Transnationalism and transculturalism as seen in Congolese music videograms,” Journal of African Media Studies 7 (2015), as well as essays on music and violence in Kinshasa (2004), the visual rhetorics of Congolese video clips (2013), and the role of private sponsorship in the Congolese record industry (2005), (published respectively in Mudimbe, ed., Contemporary African Cultural Productions; Ordre et désordre à Kinshasa; andAfrica Media Review).

John Ulumara (Moody UMAPS Scholar)
U-M African Presidential Scholar 2015-16
Lecturer and Head of the Department of History, University of Dodoma, Tanzania

ulumara@umich.edu • johnulumara@yahoo.com

John Ulumara is a Lecturer and the Head of the Department of History at the University of Dodoma in Tanzania. He holds a Master of Science degree in natural resources assessment and management from the University of Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania. He will work with Kelly Askew, ASC Director and Professor of Anthropology and Afro-American and African studies, on research centered on the contribution of wild products to rural livelihoods in pastoral communities.