Prof. Francis Hasford
You are an Associate Professor of Medical Physics and currently serve as Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC). With over 18 years of experience in nuclear science, education, and leadership, you have held key roles including Director of the Radiological and Medical Sciences Research Institute (2022–2025) and Head of the Medical Physics Department at the University of Ghana’s Graduate School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences (2016–2022).
You are a leading figure in advancing medical physics across Africa and globally. As President of the Federation of African Medical Physics Organizations (FAMPO) and Vice-President of the Ghana Society for Medical Physics (GSMP), you have championed collaboration, capacity building, and advocacy. Internationally, you serve on the Executive Committee of the International Organization for Medical Physics (IOMP), where you chair the Publications Committee and are recognized as an Honorary Fellow. You are also a Fellow of the International Union of Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine (IUPESM).
Your academic contributions include supervising over 50 postgraduate students, co-authoring more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, and presenting at numerous international conferences. You hold affiliations with institutions such as the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Italy, the National University of Science and Technology in Zimbabwe, and serve as an external examiner for universities in Ghana and South Africa.
Beyond academia, you have served as a Project Scientific Consultant for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), leading initiatives that have strengthened nuclear science and nurtured future medical physicists. You initiated GAEC’s Annual Cancer Awareness and Free Screening Programme, which has provided breast cancer screening to over 2,500 individuals in Ghana.
You have led several major development projects, including NORPART, which trained over 500 students; the IAEA Triangular Partnerships Project in Zimbabwe; the Global Medical Physics Education and Training Programme with the University of Pennsylvania; and the French Embassy’s AI for Sustainable Development initiative.
As a board-certified medical physicist, you have contributed to national committees such as the Allied Health Professions Council and the Ghana Young Academy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, you spearheaded local production of face shield PPEs for healthcare workers and the public.
Your achievements have earned you multiple honors, including the GAEC Recognition Award (2017), the IUPAP Young Scientist Prize (2016), Best Presentation at the University of Ghana PhD Conference (2015), and GAEC’s Best Worker Award (2013). Your enduring commitment to research, education, and leadership continues to shape the future of medical physics in Africa and beyond.
