20 villages ✓ screened

Personal website

Zephaniah Ayuah

Kidney disease awareness in northern Ghana — community screening, research, and children’s books.

Bongo, Ghana St. Thomas Aquinas SHS ’23 Head Boy
Zephaniah Winsakiya Ayuah
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01 / What I have actually done

The work

Nonprofit

Chronic Matters

Co-founder · a nonprofit for chronic disease awareness and screening

Co-founded Chronic Matters to bring chronic disease screening to villages that rarely see a doctor. Working with 16 volunteers and three partner clinics, runs free screenings every year across 20 villages and has identified 62 people living with kidney disease. Raised $7,000 to help them get treatment and runs digital ads to spread the word about prevention.

120k+digital ad impressions

Research

Kidney CT AI bias

Independent research · Science Mentorship Institute (Sci–MI) · supervised by Will Jardee, Montana State University

Trained a neural network to detect kidney disease in 20,846 CT scans. Tested on scans from a different population, its accuracy fell sharply, a warning for AI tools built in one part of the world and used in another. Presented the findings at the Sci–MI Symposium.

43%drop in accuracy on a different population

Research

Diet & CKD risk

Research intern · University for Development Studies

Studied with six researchers how salty Ghanaian diets and herbal medicines raise the risk of kidney disease. Shared the findings with local food vendors, then turned them into cartoons that 12 schools now use in health lessons.

40food vendors taught

Books

The Kidney Bean

Co-author & illustrator · Sankofa Literacy Initiative

Co-wrote and illustrated The Kidney Bean and What Nadia Eats to explain kidney health to children. The books are now in 32 schools, alongside reading lessons for more than 100 kids.

25+families sought screening

Clinic

Korle Bu

Student clinical intern · Urology & Nephrology Centre of Excellence, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital

Observed clinical nursing and shadowed more than 40 dialysis sessions. Created 20 patient education cards that simplify the management of chronic kidney disease, and enrolled families in health insurance to reduce barriers to care.

48families enrolled in health insurance

Policy

Youth Parliament

Chair, Health Committee · National Youth Parliament · one of 21 young people advising government

Investigated the health problems young people face and drafted four policy recommendations. One of them, a review of health insurance for chronic disease, was adopted by the government. The committee’s work also saw school sickbays renovated.

6school sickbays renovated

Founded

Aquinas Cheer

Founder · Ghana’s first all-male high-school cheer squad

Started the squad to challenge gender stereotypes and build confidence in boys. Learned more than 20 routines and trained every member, including students living with chronic illness, to step out with pride. Has since helped six students start squads at their own schools.

50+members trained

Design

Solar dialysis

Research lead · Science Innovation Club

Analysed 62 medical device failures, including breakdowns in dialysis machines and malfunctions in their pumps. Co-designed a solar-powered solution to keep dialysis machines running in clinics with unreliable power. Won the MISE Innovation Award.

40%less projected downtime

Debate

Health policy debate

Member, then Captain · Aquinas Writers & Debaters Club

Joined as a member and went on to captain the club for two years, debating health policy, mental health and gender rights. Grew debate beyond the school through partnerships with six schools, and mentored 15 junior debaters.

3national titles · 4 regional

02 / Verifiable

By the numbers

120k+digital ad impressions for Chronic Matters
20,846CT scans in the AI study
20villages reached by free screenings
62kidney disease cases identified by screening
32schools holding the books
48families enrolled in health insurance
$7kraised for treatment
50+cheerleaders trained

03 / Pictures

In frame

Chronic Matters
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Chronic Matters
Zephaniah as Head Boy of St. Thomas Aquinas SHS
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Head Boy
Presenting the kidney CT study at the Sci-MI symposium
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Sci–MI symposium
A Chronic Matters screening day
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Screening day
Chronic Matters village outreach
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Village outreach
The Kidney Bean and What Nadia Eats
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The Kidney Bean · What Nadia Eats
Health education cartoons drawn for schools
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Health cartoons
National Youth Parliament Health Committee
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National Youth Parliament
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Debate
Solar-powered dialysis prototype
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Solar dialysis prototype
Gurene drumming
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Gurene drumming
Running a marathon
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Marathon
Aquinas Cheer Club
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Cheerleading
Kidney CT study — research poster
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Kidney CT study
Science Mentorship Institute certificate
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Sci–MI certificate

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