Dr Gifty Kwakye was born in Ghana and immigrated to the US to attend college in hopes of attaining her dream of becoming a doctor. She obtained her undergrad and medical degrees from Yale University, where she served on the board of Student National Medical Association (SNMA), Health Professions Recruitment & Exposure Program (HPREP) and as both a resident and teaching assistant for Summer Medical and Dental Education Program (SMDEP), all programs aimed at improving minority representation in medicine. She also co-founded the African Health Professional Interest Group (AHPIG) and developed a big-little sib program pairing Ghanaian’s in higher education internationally with students in Ghana applying to colleges.
Dr Gifty Kwakye is currently an Assistant Professor at University of Michigan and serves as Clerkship Director for the Surgery Department. She holds a Master in Public Health from Johns Hopkins and completed her residency training at Brigham & Women’s Hospital/Harvard. She is board certified both in General and Colorectal Surgery. Her research interests lie in improving health disparities globally, tackling colorectal cancer screening and addressing treatment outcomes amongst populations in Africa but also immigrants here in the US. She is also currently conducting research on pelvic floor disorders that occur due to female genital circumcision.