The Latest

HEAL Initiative Global Health Fellowships Info Session
with Joseph Scarpelli, Program Director

The HEAL fellowship aims to train and transform healthcare professionals from around the world to provide care for the resource-denied while becoming part of the global movement for health equity. This info session offers more information about the program. WATCH NOW


GS&D Monthly Forum
with Mary Owen, MD

Dr. Owen is a member of the Tlingit Nation, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine & Biobehavioral Health, and the Director of the Center of American Indian and Minority Health at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Duluth. Her work includes outreach to local and national Native leaders to ensure University of Minnesota Medical School remains in tune with American Indian & Alaska Native (AI/AN) health care and education needs. During this webinar, she will offer insights into building bilateral, sustainable relationships with community partners. WATCH NOW


GS&D Monthly Forum
with Michael Sundberg, MD, MPH

Dr. Sundberg is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota. He works clinically in the Twin Cities and in Rosebud, South Dakota. During this webinar, he offers insights into building bilateral, sustainable relationships with community partners. WATCH NOW


Barriers to Surgical Care in Native American Communities
with Todd Tuttle, MD, MS for the Minnesota Surgical Society

Dr. Todd Tuttle serves as the Vice-Chair for the Global Surgery & Disparities Program within the Department of Surgery at the UMN Medical School. WATCH NOW


GS&D Monthly Forum
with Stefan Kim, MD & Carolina Sandoval-Garcia, MD

Drs. Kim & Sandoval-Garcia serve as assistant professors in the Department of Neurosurgery. During this webinar, they discuss their ongoing work in global neurosurgery. WATCH NOW


GS&D Monthly Forum
with Shailey Prasad, MBBS, MPH

Dr. Prasad serves as the Executive Director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Global Health & Social Responsibility and Vice-Chair for Education in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. During this webinar, he offers reflections on the ways in which conversations in the global health community have evolved - particularly as a result of 2020 - and what the future may hold. WATCH NOW


GS&D Monthly Forum
with Rahel Ghebre, MD, MPH

Dr. Ghebre serves as a gynecologic oncologist and professor within the Obstetrics, Gynecology & Women's Health Department at the University of Minnesota Medical School. During this webinar, she discusses her ongoing work in sub-Saharan Africa. WATCH NOW


GS&D Monthly Forum
with Jeffrey Chipman, MD

Dr. Chipman serves as Professor and Chief of the division of Critical Care Surgery, the Frank B. Cerra Professor in Critical Care Surgery, and the Vice-Chair of Education within the Department of Surgery at the University of Minnesota Medical School. During this webinar, he discusses ongoing research efforts in Uganda, where he has been working since 2009. To date, Dr. Chipman has published studies on HIV, yellow fever, unmet surgical need, and the safety of performing invasive research in resource-limited settings. WATCH NOW


GS&D Monthly Forum
with Jennifer Rickard, MD, MPH

Dr. Rickard serves as a critical care surgeon and an assistant professor within the Department of Surgery at the University of Minnesota Medical School. During this webinar, Dr. Rickard discusses capacity-building efforts through the Rwanda Human Resources for Health (HRH) Program. Dr. Rickard has been working with the program since 2012 and currently spends six months each year in-country at the University of Rwanda, where she serves as an active member of the teaching faculty in the Department of Surgery. WATCH NOW


Perceptions of the COVID-19 impact on surgery from a cross-sectional social media analysis
Cutting Edge - the surgical blog from BJS (2020)

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly evolved and impacted all aspects of health policy and healthcare delivery – including surgery. Recommendations to postpone and provide additional guidelines regarding ‘elective surgery’ has left surgeons, patients, and hospitals with questions on the definition of ‘elective,’ the proper type and use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in surgery, the ethics of delaying medically indicated procedures, and the health and psychological impacts on patients and families. Analysis of social media information enables examination of the impact of COVID-19 and associated policy changes in a unique way and gathering of real-time data more rapidly than traditional methods. READ MORE


Patterns of Treatment & Survival among American Indian and Alaska Native Women with Breast Cancer, 2000-2015
Journal of the Poor & Underserved (2020)

We used data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program to examine trends in breast cancer treatment and survival among a large sample of American Indian and Alaska Native women diagnosed from 2000–2015. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate survival. Efforts to improve survival among American Indian and Alaska Native populations will need to address barriers to access among these vulnerable populations. READ MORE


Genomic expression assay testing among American Indian and Alaska Native women with breast cancer
Cancer (2020)

Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer mortality for all women, including American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women. The use of the 21‐gene recurrence score (RS) appears to be predictive of the benefit of chemotherapy for women with estrogen receptor (ER)–positive breast cancer. The objective of the current study was to compare RS testing between AI/AN and non‐Hispanic White (NHW) women with breast cancer. READ MORE


Identifying New Frontiers for Social Media Engagement in Global Surgery: An Observational Study
World Journal of Surgery (2020)

Joint collaboration with Department of Surgery, College of Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe; Department of Surgery, National University of Science & Technology, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe; Oxford Global Surgery Group, University of Oxford. Observational study conducting social media assessment of the global surgery landscape, evaluating HIC vs LMIC engagement by global surgeons and assessing how social media platforms provide a scalable tool that can augment engagement between global surgeons to foster global collaboration, community engagement, education & awareness. READ MORE


Social Media Perceptions of Surgical Cancer Care in the Era of COVID-19: A Global Cross-Sectional Study
JCO Global Oncology (2020)

The rapid dissemination of information through social media renders a profound lens to evaluate perceptions of emerging topics, especially in the context of a global pandemic. The primary objective of this cross-sectional study was to elucidate trends on social media in the setting of surgical cancer care affected by the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe. READ MORE


Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 on Progress Towards Achieving Global Surgery Goals
World Journal of Surgery (2020)

Joint collaboration with Department of Surgery, College of Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe; Oxford Global Surgery Group, University of Oxford. Editorial commentary with evaluation of how COVID19 is impacting the six components of #GlobalSurgery capacity, with further evaluation on how to use the COVID19 'stress test' to strengthen the global surgical system towards the 2030 Global Surgery Goals. READ MORE


GSSA: "Life as a Global Surgeon" with Dr. Jennifer Rickard

Jennifer Rickard, MD, MPH is a surgeon at the University of Minnesota and the University of Rwanda. In the lecture “Life as a Global Surgeon”, Dr. Rickard shares her work in global surgery and her journey into a career both in the US and overseas. WATCH THE VIDEO


UMN Medical School: Surgical Mission to Honduras

UMN surgery residents - Drs. Matt Bobel, Harika Nalluri, and Julia Nugent - share a firsthand report from the operating room, clinic, and the Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos ranch during a weeklong medical mission with One World Surgery in Honduras lead by Surgical Oncologist Dr. Todd Tuttle. READ THE BLOG