The NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery
Building Surgical Research Capacity
Our Goal Is To Build Sustainable Surgical Research Capacity Through Education & Training The GSU Faculty consists of topic-specific Working Groups that have been established to prioritise, plan and develop the training relevant to surgical researchers. As our programme expands, additional working groups will be established in response to the training needs our of network of researchers.
Health Economics deals with the cost effectiveness of healthcare treatments and the distribution of healthcare resources.Our Health Economics group is are developing training materials to help surgeons understand the health economic implications of the research we conduct.
Meet The Health Economics Working Group
Professor Risikat Dauda
Chair, Health Economics Group
Risikat is a Professor of Economics at University of Lagos. She holds a M.Sc. degree in Economics from Kharkov Institute of Engineering and Economics (now known as Simon Kuznets Kharkiv National University of Economics), Kharkov, Ukraine in 1993 and a Ph.D. degree in Economics from Kharkov State University (now known as V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University), Kharkov, Ukraine in 1996 She has served as the Deputy Director, Media Services and Course Materials Development at the Distance Learning Institute of University of Lagos (2014-2016). She was the Head, Department of Economics, University of Lagos (2017-2020). She is a development economist with more than 20 years of experience in research, teaching and consultancy on issues of African development. Risikat’s research interests cut across economics and social development with emphasis on themes relating to Education, Health and Human Capital, Poverty and Inequality, Income Distribution, Human Development, Gender and Development Finance. She is currently serving as a Senior Faculty Member, Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) Non-Residential Fellowship Programmme and member, Economics and Statistics Committee of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry. She is actively involved in the supervision of postgraduate students and dissemination of research results via academic publications.
Group Members
Statistics can be a challenging subject for surgical researchers but high quality data analysis is vital in order to generate robust, quantitate evidence.Our statistics training will help surgical researchers plan, execute and analyse their research projects from beginning to end.
Meet The Statistics and Data Analysis Working Group
Professor Deirdré Kruger
Chair, Statistics Group
Associate Professor Deirdré Kruger is a Specialist Scientist in Molecular Medicine and Translational Research within the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits)’s Department of Surgery in South Africa. She completed her PhD in Molecular Medicine from St. George’s, University of London (UK), in 2007. Prof Kruger joined the Wits Department of Surgery in June 2010 as a scientist and research coordinator and was appointed as the Head of Research and Laboratories in Surgery in August 2020. Working at the intersection of biochemistry, molecular medicine and translational research in surgery, in particular in patients with cancer and/or vascular disease, she applies integrative approaches to identify and investigate potential diagnostic, prognostic and predictive biomarkers of disease. Prof Kruger is a National Research Foundation (NRF)-rated scientist and has a very keen interest in biostatistics. In 2020, she received a grant (ongoing) from the NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery to develop, initiate and manage a Surgical Statistics Hub where a team of biostatisticians, scientists and clinicians assist in the surgical data analysis of research projects from other Global Surgery Units based in low-to-middle income countries, as well as that of our own Wits training surgeons and consultants. In June 2022 she was invited to Chair the Working Group on Statistics Training for the Global Surgery Unit Education and Training (E&T) Committee.
Group Members
Research Management covers every aspect of delivering international research studies. Drawing on the expertise of our hub managers from across the GSU network, this working groups covers aspects such as financial planning and managing the grant lifestyle.
Meet The Research Management Working Group
Dr Laura Martinez
Chair, Research Management Group
Laura Martínez is the Hub Manager for Mexico Hub and Co-Chair of the Research Management Working Group. She’s been part of the Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery Mexico Hub since it started operating in late 2018. She is also Deputy Director of Hospital Español located in the Port and City of Veracruz, Mexico. She has held this position since 2019 and is in charge of the technical-administrative management that consists on planning, organizing, supervising and evaluating activities carried out by the healthcare personnel, always trying to guarantee security and quality of care with the help of the most updated guidelines and cutting-edge technology, directed towards the institutional objectives and goals. Before being Deputy Director, she was the Clinical Services Coordinator from 2014 to 2019, where she was in charge of maintaining and monitoring the quality of medical care in hospitalized patients, ensuring that the care they received during their stay was the best. Laura studied and obtained her Bachelor degree as a General Physician from the Tecnológico de Monterrey in 2013. In 2015 she obtained a Master’s Degree in Dietetics and Nutrition and in 2022 she finished a Master´s Degree in Management of Health Institutions.
Group Members
Improving surgical care for patients is the fundamental aim of all of our research. Our Community Engagement and Involvement (CEI) group ensure patient are at the heart of our projects, from planning to disseminating results. The CEI working group teach researchers how to engage patients in every aspect of their research projects.
Meet The Community Engagement & Involvement Working Group
Professor Ismail Lawani
Chair, Community Engagement & Involvement Group
Ismail is Professor of Surgery at the University of Abomey-Calavi and Director of the NIHR GSU Benin Hub. He is a specialist in laparoscopic surgery and a key opinion leader in surgery, particularly in French-speaking West African countries. His research focuses on the delivery of multicenter clinical trials, and his clinical practice is strongly orientated towards improving the effectiveness of surgical teaching and training.
Group Members
Qualitative Research involves the studied use and collection of a variety of empirical materials such as case studies and personal stories that describe meanings in individuals' lives. It allows us to better understand the results behind the numbers generated in quantitive research. Our Qualitative Research group work to ensure surgeons understand the importance of investigating patients' views on our research studies.
Meet The Qualitative Research Working Group
Dr Gagandeep Kwatra
Chair, Qualitative Research Group
Dr. Gagandeep Kwatra is an Additional Professor of Pharmacology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bathinda, India. She holds an MD in Pharmacology from Christian Medical College, Ludhiana and Masters in Health Professions Education (MHPE) from Keele University, United Kingdom. As a trained medical educator, she conducts faculty development programmes on varied topics. Her interests include student mentoring, innovations in teaching strategies and student engagement. She leads the Global Surgery Data and Training Centre at CMC, Ludhiana. She is also a member of the Education Committee of American College of Clinical Pharmacology.
Group Members
Lovenish Bains
India Hub
Sangeetha Samuel
Christian Medical College & Hospital, Ludhiana
India Hub
Améyo Josette Bonita Gnele
University of Abomey-Calavi
Benin Hub
Maria Thomas
Baba Farid University of Health Sciences
India Hub
Maria Lorena Aguilera Arévalo
Guatemala
Agnieszka Ignatowicz
University of Birmingham
Vivien Tenonto
Université d’Abomey-Calavi
Benin Hub
Dr Pariza Gupta
Christian Medical Hospital, Ludhiana
India Hub
Michael Bahrami-Hessari
University of Birmingham
UK
Professor Dhruva Ghosh
Christian Medical College, Ludhiana
India Hub
Anita Essenam Agbeko
Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital
Ghana Hub
Vinitha Ravindran
The Tamil Nadhu Dr. MGR University
India Hub
High quality data collection, curation and management is central to all our research projects. The Data Management working group create teaching materials for all aspects of data management.
Meet The Data Management Working Group
Dr Napoleon Bellua Sam
Chair, Data Management Group
Napoleon holds a PhD in Epidemiology and Biostatistics and is a Senior Lecturer as well as head of Department at the Department of Medical Research and Innovation, School of Medicine, University for Development Studies (UDS), Ghana. He used to be the former head of Students Information System Unit, UDS. He is a professional Statistician, Biostatistician, Epidemiologist, and a Scholar at Leaders of Africa Institute. Napoleon is the manager of Ghana Data Centre and also the Deputy Director for Ghana Hub, NIHR-Global Surgery Unit and a member of the Education Committee of NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery. He is a member of AMPATH Ghana and also part of the research committee. Napoleon has a vast background in Epidemiology and Biostatistics with specific training and expertise in Data analysis, Data analytics, Data Management and Machine learning in Data Science. He can also introduce a variety of statistical techniques to real and complex datasets. He is a multidisciplinary researcher, whose research interests cover mental health, climate change, maternal health, adolescent health and Surgical Site Infection, with special emphasis on evidence-based medicine, efficiency measurement in health care, effect of meteorological factors on diseases, and statistical and mathematical modeling. Napoleon is a member of Ghana Science Association, Ghana Statistical Association and International Biometric Society, Ghana Region.
Group Members
Dr Divya Kapoor
University of Birmingham
UK
Dr Atul Suroy
Christian Medical College, Ludhiana
India Hub
Dr Riinu Pius
University of Edinburgh
UK
Gagandeep Kwatra
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bathinda
India Hub
The NIHR Global Surgery Unit works with Surgigogy Ltd as our commercial partner in the provision of consultancy on surgical education and training, instructional design, e-learning development.
Bringing together surgeons, researchers and policy makers to set the local research agenda according to patient need in LMIC and ensuring all patients have the opportunity to take part in our research.