PRESENTER: Francesca Riccio-Ackerman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Amputations are often presented as unpredictable tragedies, warranting sympathy and mitigated by the promise of ever-advancing prosthetic technologies. However, disabling events like amputations occur in clusters globally, driven by war, erosion of medical infrastructure, and neglect. Riccio-Ackerman presents an analysis of factors that grow these hotspots and keep those affected struggling to access critical medical treatment — like prosthetic and orthotic care — that would enable independence, mobility and full inclusion in society. Riccio-Ackerman introduces a systemic approach to strengthening prosthetic care from Sierra Leone to Native American reservations to Gaza. Please email ME-dept@uiowa.edu for the Zoom link.

Francesca Riccio-Ackerman is a PhD student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics and the Biomechatronics Group at the MIT Media Lab. Francesca’s research interests include health system strengthening and analyzing challenges to health equity for users of prosthetic and orthotic devices. Francesca received her BS in Biomedical Engineering and worked as a researcher in the Adaptive Neural Systems Laboratory at Florida International University, contributing to the development of advanced prosthetic arms. She then completed her MS degree at SDA Bocconi in Milan in International Health Management, Economics and Policy, specializing in global health and development.

FACULTY HOST: Dr. Deema Totah, Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Graduate Seminar.