Magdalene Mawugbe

Magdalene Mawugbe is a first-year DPhil student in Translational Health Sciences. She is a Rhodes Scholar and Clarendon Scholar, whose research interests lie at the intersection of disability (particularly Deaf studies), communication, AI and health equity. Her doctoral research is an ethnographic study that seeks to understand the experience of the. consultation process for Deaf patients in the primary health care system in Ghana. Through an examination of the interactions between relevant stakeholders, Magdalene is examining how communication, stigma, and structural inequalities shape clinical assessment, therapeutic relationships, and eventual diagnosis. Magdalene is conceptualizing diagnosis as a communicative and relational process, examining how meaning, trust, and authority are negotiated, and how these processes might inform more inclusive models of primary care.

In parallel, she is critically examining the use of AI-powered sign language recognition technology to improve communication between healthcare providers and Deaf patients. Her research considers the ethical, relational, and systemic implications of using technology in conjunction with, or in place of, human interpreters, with a focus on confidentiality, autonomy, diagnostic accuracy, and equity in resource-constrained health systems. She has professional experience as a sign language interpreter and research assistant.

Magdalene holds a BSc in Disability and Rehabilitation Studies from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and an MSc in Translational Health Sciences at Oxford. Her broader research interests include disability justice, communication ethics in primary care, AI and health equity, and improving inclusive health systems in sub-Saharan Africa and the world at large.