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MIT’s K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics celebrates Sierra Leone’s inaugural class of orthotic and prosthetic clinicians

MIT’s K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics and Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health launch specialized program to train future clinicians on the fabrication of artificial limbs and braces for people with disabilities. 

MIT’s K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics and Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health (MOH) have launched the first fully accredited educational program for prosthetists and orthotists in Sierra Leone. Tens of thousands of people in Sierra Leone need orthotic braces and artificial limbs, but access to such specialized medical care in this African nation has been limited.

On November 7, the country’s inaugural class of future prosthetic and orthotic clinicians received their white coats at a ceremony in Sierra Leone’s National Rehabilitation Center, marking the start of their specialized training.

The agreement between MIT’s K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics and Sierra Leone’s MOH began last year with the signing of a detailed memorandum of understanding to strengthen the capabilities and services of that country’s orthotic and prosthetic (O&P) sector. The bionics center is part of the larger Yang Tan Collective at MIT, whose mission is to improve human wellbeing by accelerating science and engineering collaborations at a global scale. The initiative includes improvements across the supply chain for assistive technologies, clinic infrastructure and tools, technology translation pipelines and education opportunities for Sierra Leoneans to expand local O&P capacity. The establishment of the new education and training program in Sierra Leone advances the collaboration’s shared goal to enable sustainable and independent operation of O&P services for the tens of thousands of citizens who live with physical disabilities due to amputation, poliomyelitis infection, or other causes.

Students in the program will receive their training through the Human Study School of Rehabilitation Sciences, a nongovernmental organization based in Germany whose training models have been used across 53 countries, including 15 countries in Africa.

 “This White Coat Ceremony is an important milestone in our comprehensive strategy to transform care for persons with disabilities,” said Hugh Herr SM’93, a professor of media arts and sciences at the MIT Media Lab and co-director of the K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics at MIT, who has led the Center’s engagement with the MOH.  “We are proud to introduce the first program in Sierra Leone to offer this type of clinical education which will improve availability and access to prosthetic and orthotic healthcare across the nation.”

The ceremony featured a keynote address by the Honorable Chief Minister of Sierra Leone David Sengeh SM ’12, PhD ’16. Sengeh, a former graduate student of Herr’s research group and long-time advocate for a more inclusive Sierra Leone, has taken a personal interest in this collaboration. 

“The government is very happy that this collaboration with the K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics at MIT falls within our national development plan and our priorities,” said Sengeh. “Our goal is to invest in human capacity and strengthen systems for inclusion.”

Francesca Riccio-Ackerman, the graduate student lead for this project added that “this program has created opportunities for persons with disabilities to become clinicians that will treat others with the same condition, setting an example in inclusivity.”

Program specifics

The inaugural class of O&P students include 11 men and women from across Sierra Leone who have undergone intensive preparatory training and passed a rigorous international standard entrance exam to earn their position in the program. The students are scheduled to complete their training in early 2027 and will have the opportunity to become certified as associate prosthetist/orthotists by the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics, the gold standard for professionals in the field.

The program utilizes a hybrid educational model developed by the Human Study School of Rehabilitation Sciences.  

“Human Study’s humanitarian education program is unique. We run the world’s only Prosthetics & Orthotics school that meets international standards at all three levels of the P&O profession.,” said Chris Schlief, Founder and CEO of Human Study. “We are delighted to be working with the Ministry of Health and MIT’s K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics, to bring our training to Sierra Leone. Prosthetics and orthotics have an essential role to play in increasing mobility, dignity and equality for people with disabilities. We are proud to be a partner in this ground-breaking program, training the first generation of P&O clinicians. This program will have an impact for generations to come.”

As for Sengeh, who authored the book, “Radical Inclusion: Seven Steps to Help You Create a More Just Workplace, Home, and World,” the new program in Sierra Leone embodies his vision for a more inclusive world. “Personally, as an MIT alumnus and Chief Minister of Sierra Leone, this is what true vision, action, and impact look like. As I often say, through Radical Inclusion #WeWillDeliver.”

New collaboration aims to strengthen orthotic and prosthetic care in Sierra Leone

MIT’s K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics and Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health and Sanitation aim to develop an integrative approach to strengthening and expanding the orthotic and prosthetic sector within the African nation.

In January 2023,  the MIT Team signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health, which initiated and officially communicated a nation-wide effort to improve care for people with disabilities, for patients from all regions with changes designed to last for generations. 

MIT’s K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics has entered into a collaboration with the government of Sierra Leone to strengthen the capabilities and services of that country’s orthotic and prosthetic (O&P) sector. Tens of thousands of people in Sierra Leone need orthotic braces and artificial limbs, but access to such specialized medical care in this African nation is limited.

The agreement between MIT, the Center for Bionics, and Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) provides a detailed memorandum of understanding (MOU) and intentions that will begin as a four-year program. 

“[This collaboration fosters] access, innovation, and capacity-building in the Orthotic and Prosthetic division…building resilient health systems, especially for vulnerable groups.” ⏤ Dr. Austin Demby, Minister of Health of Sierra Leone

Graduate Student Lead Francesca Riccio-Ackerman receives MIT Morningside Academy for Design Fellowship

When the creation of the MIT Morningside Academy for Design (MAD) — a major interdisciplinary center housed in the MIT School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P) — was announced last spring, it promised to build on the Institute’s legendary leadership in design-focused education and provide a hub for cross-disciplinary design work across MIT. The 14 graduate students enrolled as MAD’s inaugural cohort of design fellows are making good on that promise with research projects supporting a range of efforts, with many demonstrating a strong interest in working at the interface of design and sustainability.

The fellows are currently enrolled in masters or doctoral programs across MIT. Engineers, business students, architects, city planners, policy developers — they all wanted to participate in the academy to expand their understanding of design and enrich their ongoing projects or theses.

Graduate student Lead for the MIT Program to Strengthen Orthotics & Prosthetics Care in Sierra Leone, Francesca Riccio-Ackerman, was named an inaugural Design Fellow at the new MIT Morningside Academy for Design. She describes her work as improving the future of healthcare for “forever patients.” Working in the Biomechatronics Group in the MIT Media Lab and the K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics at MIT, she focuses on making prosthetic business sectors more equitable domestically and internationally on a systemic level by designing tools that improve access to, and translation of, prosthetic technologies.

In 2021, Francesca joined the K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics, co-directed by Professor Hugh Herr, often referred to as the “Leader of the Bionic Age.” The center’s ambition is to bridge the gap between human limitation and human potential. Through its research, one of the Center’s priorities is to ensure equitable access of the latest bionic technology to all impacted individuals, especially to those in low-resource communities."

The MIT Team welcomes Claudine Humure, as the Senior Program and Development Prosthetist-Orthotist for the Sierra Leone Project

Claudine was orphaned during the Rwanda genocide against the Tutsis and lost her right leg to osteosarcoma at the age of 12. Claudine owes her life to Dr. Paul Farmer, of Partners in Health (PIH); he diagnosed her illness and arranged for her treatment at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

In June 2023, Claudine completed her Master's Degree in Prosthetics & Orthotics at the University of Washington in Seattle and passed the National Board Exams in August. In September 2023, she began a one-year contract in Sierra Leone, after which she plans to return to the US for her O&P Residency.

In her current role, Claudine assists the O&P Theory professor in teaching and mentoring 16 Sierra Leone Trainees. She provides hands-on technical skills needed to fabricate therapeutic O&P devices and gives individualized support across a range of academic and laboratory activities.

Claudine also supports and learns from the clinicians at the club foot clinic, which is part of the National Rehabilitation Center of Sierra Leone. She is a dedicated advocate for health equity in Rwanda, and is now engaging directly with the budding O&P sector of Sierra Leone.

MIT-Ministry of Health of Sierra Leone Specialized O&P Education Program Welcomes Human Study Organization to Sierra Leone for first Hands-On Clinician Training

As part of our mission to build the capacity for O&P care in Sierra Leone, we are growing an inclusive workforce that can deliver quality care to patients by educating eleven new O&P clinicians between the Freetown and Bo clinics using our first in-country specialized and inclusive clinical education program, increasing the national clinical workforce 5-fold.

Our ongoing collaboration with ISPO-certified education + training NGO, Human Study Organization allows us to offer first of its kind hybrid in-country education to invest in local Sierra Leoneans.

As part of the hybrid education approach, the Human Study Organization Team visits Sierra Leone frequently to offer hands-on practical workshops and teach critical fabrication and patient treatment techniques. Their team was recently welcomed at the National Rehabilitation Center in Freetown, Sierra Leone for the first hands-on instructional experience.