The Center for African Studies is hosting an Africa @ Noon lecture series during the 2026-2027 academic year. Dr. Megan M. Quimper (The Ohio State University College of Medicine) will speak about her work with the non-profit organization JustWONDOOR on Wednesday, October 28, in room 110A located in the Hale Center from noon to 1:30 p.m.
As Dr. Quimper will detail, globally, roughly 15,800 maternal and neonatal deaths occur daily, with 99% in low- and middle-income countries. Of these deaths, 90% are preventable. Her talk will review the global maternal mortality crisis and introduce attendees to JustWONDOOR – a program aimed at improving postgraduate medical education in OBGYN as part of the solution to decrease maternal mortality. Dr. Quimper will discuss this program’s history in the development of Guyana’s first OBGYN residency training program and introduce its new partnership with JFK Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia.
Dr. Quimper is an associate clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Ohio State College of Medicine. She earned her medical degree at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and completed her residency training at Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC. Dr. Quimper’s global health work focuses on creating international graduate medical education programs, with an emphasis on building sustainable partnerships that enhance resident training and foster bidirectional learning. She is also a founding core faculty member of the Ohio State's Global Health Scholars Program.
The next Africa @ Noon lecture is Wednesday, November 18 via Zoom. Dr. Abdul Rashid Gbambu will present a comparative study of Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria examining how security communication and media-information disorder affect security governance in Africa.