Global Surgery Unit - About Us

CEI & Advocacy

The NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery


Improving surgical outcomes through collaborative research

Improving outcomes for patients is central to the work of the GSU. To ensure our research is relevant to communities in LMICs, we involve patients with lived experience and the public in the prioritisation, design and implementation of our clinical trials and studies.

 

This ensures that local healthcare needs are being met and potential barriers and challenges identified and overcome early on, therefore guaranteeing the success of our studies and allowing us to have a greater impact on surgical healthcare in LMICs.

CEI StrategyCEI Projects
Community Engagement Graphic

Community Engagement and Involvement (CEI) at GSU

“…the process of working collaboratively with and through groups of people affiliated by geographic proximity, special interest, or similar situations to address issues affecting the well-being of those people”

– US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The key building blocks are:
1. Each Hub employs a CEI Lead (e.g. a research nurse), who has been trained in best practice CEI according to the UNICEF standards and is responsible for recruitment, training and ongoing support of the community representatives
2. The community representatives are well-connected key stakeholders with reach into grassroots communities
3. The Hub CEI Lead and community representatives meet regularly to form the (virtual) CEI steering committee
4. The steering committee allows us to reach those in the community who are most affected by our research and ensurse they are empowered to contribute towards decision-making

All CEI activities are being captured and evaluated by the UK-based CEI Coordinator, who is also responsible for training, monitoring and shared learning.

Ghana-PPI-Community Engagement

Ghana PPI Community Engagement

Our CEI Case Studies

Our case studies showcase practical application of CEI in LMIC settings with a focus on exploring best practice and highlighting challenges and barriers, as well as potential solutions. Learn about the tailored CEI activities.

THE TIGER STUDY

Task-shifting inguinal hernia repair between surgeons and non-surgeon physicians in rural Ghana.

THE STARFISH STUDY

Stoma Care For Improvement Research: Epidemiologic study of stoma cases in The Philippines and qualitative research on the challenges of stoma care.

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.


Global Surgery Unit - About Us

Global Surgery Education & Training

The NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery


Improving surgical outcomes through collaborative research

Our aim is to build surgical research capacity through education and training.

 

Our Education Centre provides a one-stop-shop for all our education and training resources, courses and learning materials. All our resources have been specifically developed in the context of surgical research and are freely available to researchers all around the world. Subjects cover a broad range of topics including Health Economics, Data Management, Research Management, Community Engagement and Involvement, Statistics, and Qualitative research.

 

Through the Education Centre we aim to equip the whole research team with the necessary skills to conduct high quality research.

Click Here to Visit the Global Surgery Unit Education Centre

Professor Dion Morton, Co-Director of the NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery (GSU), introduces our surgical research capacity building programme.

Our faculty brings together surgeons and topic specific experts to develop training materials that are tailored to surgical research. Drawn from our network of research hubs across the GSU, the faculty ensure all our training materials are relevant to surgical researchers all around the world.

Click the blue heading boxes to meet the working groups led by our Faculty.

Professional Research Management Group

Chaired by Dr Laura Martinez from the GSU Mexico hub, the Research Managers group are developing training for professional research managers.

Statistics and Data Analysis Group

Dr Deidre Kruger from the GSU Statistics hub leads a team of expert statistician to develop data analysis and statistics training specifically for those conducting surgical research study.

Data Management Group

Dr Napoleon Bellua Sam, Head of the GSU Ghana Data Centre, leads the Data Management group.

Health Economics Group

Why, and what, do surgeons need to know about Health Economics? Professor Risikat Dauder from the Health Economics section of the GSU hub in Lagos, Nigeria develop explore health economics in surgery.

Community Engagement and Involvement Group

Professor Ismail Lawani from the GSU Hub in Benin leads a team of Community Engagement and Involvement officers from across all our hubs, ensuring that patients are at the heart of all our research.

Qualitative Research Group

Led by Dr Gagendeep Kaur from the GSU India hub, the Qualitative Research group provide training materials to aid surgical researchers in exploring topics beyond the numbers.

Our Faculty develop training delivered through three key programmes.

By selecting content in the GSU Education Centre, researchers can tailor training to meet their own individual needs and level of experience.

Emerging Leaders Programme

The Emerging Leaders Programme provides training materials for new surgical research leaders, aiming to provide increased research leadership capacity and expertise.

In addition to the content in the GSU Education Centre we are also supporting the development of post-graduate education programmes in partner hubs. A PhD in Clinical Sciences is now offered by the University for Development Studies, Tamale (Ghana Hub), and a new MSc Global Surgery is under development at the University of Lagos (Nigeria Hub).

Fully funded fellowships for online Post graduate degrees at the University of Edinburgh are also offered to students in hub countries. 

Professional Research Management Programme

Professional Management has been identified as a key requirement for capacity strengthening in LMICs. The Management Training Programme has been designed to meet this need, providing bespoke training for clinical research management teams and an infrastructure to support research and knowledge transfer.

Executive Leadership Programme

Sustainable research leadership capacity is created through the Executive Leadership Programme. This programme supports our current Hub Directors and Deputy Directors with leadership training packages designed support all aspects of leading national and international research programmes. Hub-to-hub exchange fellowships strengthen the exchange of knowledge and best practice across all hubs.

The GlobalSurg Data Centre aims to give our collaborators better access to the datasets collected during our international cohort studies. The centre is an online home for the collection, analysis, visulation and reporting of data in our Global Surgery projects. We hope to share data to establish best practice, and ultimately, to improve outcomes for surgical patients worldwide.

At the GlobalSurg Data Centre you can see real time updates on data entry from our current study – at the moment GlobalSurg 3 is collecting data on patients undergoing surgery for breast, gastric and colon cancers. Visit the GS3 in numbers page to see live updates on how many countries are registered to take part, how many teams are actively collecting data and how many patient records have been entered into the study.

 

 

As we complete cohort studies we will add applications that allow visualisation and interaction with the complete dataset (please be reassured that we not allow access to patient or hospital level data) – you can see an example of this by visiting the GS2 data explorer and GS3 data explorer. Using this new application, any variable can be compared with any other variable – click the ‘Data’ tab to begin exploring!

We will also be blogging here about all things data – tips on data analysis, how to best present data – if you have a data-related topic you like us to cover, let us know by contacting us!

Data Set Explorer - Global Surg

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.


Global Surgery Dissemination and Impact

Global Surgery Dissemination and Impact

GlobalSurg & The NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery


Improving surgical outcomes through collaborative research

Our aims are to empower frontline surgeons to bring about change for their patients, whilst advocating to policy makers for high level change. We have evolved our dissemination pathways, currently reaching 25,000 surgeons, and global and local stakeholders (including patients, surgical societies, WHO), to widely disseminate research findings.

Our TIGER and Burns studies currently utilise various CEI projects to help with trial production. Further information on both of these trials can be accessed via the links below.

Studies- GSU - Tiger

TIGER STUDY

TIGER (Task shifting Inguinal hernia Repair between surgeons and technicians): development of a randomised trial in low and middle income countries

Can technicians perform mesh inguinal hernia repair safely and cost-effectively in rural surgical settings in low and middle income countries?

This pilot trial aims to investigate delivery of a standardised, measurable training programme for technicians to perform a mesh inguinal hernia repair.

Find out More
GSU Case Study Burns

BURNS TRIAL

Burns are a significant contributor to the burden of disease in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Although current guidelines recommend treatment in specialized treatment centres, such centres are few or non-existent in many LMIC settings.

This study is a prospective observational study comparing outcomes of burns treatments between non-specialised and specialised burns units.

Find out More

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.


Global Surgery research - GSU

Global Surgery Research

The NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery


Improving surgical outcomes through collaborative research

Research to support safe surgery is urgently needed to ensure that the benefits of surgical care are realised across the world and the risk of adverse outcomes minimised.

 

The GSU run a variety of international research projects that can be accessed through the links below.

Research Milestones include:

  • FALCON Randomised Controlled Trial:  completed in 21 months, 15 months ahead of schedule even through the global pandemic, published in LANCET (Oct 2021).
  • 64 clusters have been randomised and activated in the CHEETAH study. Patient recruitment to be completed in early 2022
  • Delivery of 5 annual workshops (South Africa 2017, Rwanda 2018, Ghana 2019, online 2020, Ghana 2021)

GSU - Surgeons

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.


GSU Who We Are - The team

Global Surgery - Our Teams

The NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery


Improving surgical outcomes through collaborative research

To run research on a global scale requires the hard work and dedication of a truly global team – here’s the amazing team who make the NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery and GlobalSurg projects a reality!

The NIHR Global Health Unit on Global Surgery

The NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery is a consortium between UK Universities of Birmingham, Edinburgh & Warwick together with our international partners at hubs and centres around the world

Unit Directors

Professor Dion Morton

Professor Dion Morton OBE
Co-Director

Professor Stephen Tabiri

Professor Stephen Tabiri
Co-Director

University of Birmingham

GSU Bham Mr Aneel Bhangu

Mr Aneel Bhangu
NIHR Lead Clinician Scientist

Ms Lucy Caton
Programme Manager

GSU Bham Dr Audrey Nganwa

Dr Audrey Nganwa
Programme Manager

Ms Belinda San
Senior Administrator

GSU Bham Mr Brett Dawson

Mr Brett Dawson
Data Manager

Michael Bahrami-Hessari - GSU

Mr Michael Bahrami-Hessari
Patient, Public and Community Involvement and Engagement Manager

Mr Alex Bell
Finance Officer

GSU Bham Dr Laura Magill

Dr Laura Magill
Senior Lecturer in Clinical Trials

Professor Thomas Pinkney
George Drexler & Royal College of Surgeons Chair of Surgical Trials

Ms Rachel Lillywhite
Team Leader – Global Surgery Trials

Ms Donna Smith
Senior Trial Manager

Mrs Divya Kapoor
Senior Trial Manager

Mr James Keatley
Project Manager

Dr James Glaseby
Academic Clinical Lecturer

Dr Joana Simoes
Clinical PhD Fellow

Dr Elizabeth Li
Academic Clinical Lecturer

Dr Virginia Ledda
Clinical PhD Fellow

Dr Sivesh Kathir Kamarajah
Clinical PhD Fellow

Dr Maria Picciochi
Clinical PhD Fellow

Dr Dimitri Nepogodiev
Academic Clinical Lecturer

Professor Richard Lilford
Professor of Public Health

Professor Tracey Roberts
Professor of Health Economic and Head of Health Economics Unit

Mr Mwayi Kachapila
Research Associate in Health Economics

Mr Bryar Kadir
Senior Statistician

Dr Omar Omar
Senior Statistician & Epidemiologist

Ms Felicity Brant
Senior Data Manager

University of Edinburgh

Professor Ewen Harrison

Professor Ewen Harrison
Professor of Surgery and Data Science

Dr Katie Shaw

Dr Katie Shaw
Programme Manager

Dr Riinu Ots
Senior Data Manager

Dr Stephen Knight

Dr Stephen Knight
Clinical Research Fellow

Dr Lisa Norman

Dr Lisa Norman
Research Assistant

Dr Tom Drake

Dr Tom Drake
Clinical Research Fellow

NIHR Global Surgery Unit International Hubs & Centres


GSU Who We Are - The team

Global Surgery - Who We are

GlobalSurg & The NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery


Improving surgical outcomes through collaborative research

The Unit is built upon equitable partnerships between all members. Through an evolving shared leadership with the Hub Directors, structured transfer of leadership to the Hub Directors provides sustainability for the Hubs, the network and thereby the Unit.

 

Our research is undertaken through a network of >80 Hub-Spoke hospitals, located across three continents.

Over the last 4.5 years, we have set up seven surgical research Hubs in Benin, Ghana, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Africa with an extensive network of urban and rural ‘Spoke’ hospitals. This network prioritised the surgical topics that needed research and has performed multiple surgical studies.

 

Through bespoke training we are building capacity across this network to undertake surgical and other clinical research.

 

Click on the image to read the updated summary of the NIHR Global Surgery Unit work.

An updated summary (September 2023) of the work developed by the NIHR Global Surgery Unit can be found in this report.


Global Surgery Unit - About Us

Global Surgery - About Us

GlobalSurg & The NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery


Improving surgical outcomes through collaborative research

In 2015 The Lancet Commission and WHO identified that 5 billion people lack access to safe, affordable surgical and anaesthesia care. We estimate that approximately 4.2 million people will die each year within 30 days of surgery – more than from all causes related to HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis combined A critical need exists to reduce inequalities in surgical care throughout the world.

[link to publication].

The NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery (GSU) has worked with international partners to launch research networks across sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian sub-continent, South East Asia and Central America with the aim to improve surgical outcomes for patients through collaborative research and by building surgical research capacity in LMICs.

GSU - About Us - Medical Equipment

Community Engagement - Global Surgery

Global Surgery - Community Engagement

GlobalSurg & The NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery


Improving surgical outcomes through collaborative research

For GSU, this means working closely with community stakeholders in our LMICs. These stakeholders might be patients and their families, community leaders or generally anyone in the community affected by our surgical research.

To achieve this, we have developed the below outlined overarching CEI strategy – a flexible approach to reaching and establishing ongoing relationships with relevant community members.

Community Engagement Graphic

Community Engagement and Involvement (CEI) at GSU

“…the process of working collaboratively with and through groups of people affiliated by geographic proximity, special interest, or similar situations to address issues affecting the well-being of those people”

– US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The key building blocks are:
1. Each Hub employs a CEI Lead (e.g. a research nurse), who has been trained in best practice CEI according to the UNICEF standards and is responsible for recruitment, training and ongoing support of the community representatives
2. The community representatives are well-connected key stakeholders with reach into grassroots communities
3. The Hub CEI Lead and community representatives meet regularly to form the (virtual) CEI steering committee
4. The steering committee allows us to reach those in the community who are most affected by our research and ensurse they are empowered to contribute towards decision-making

All CEI activities are being captured and evaluated by the UK-based CEI Coordinator, who is also responsible for training, monitoring and shared learning.

Ghana-PPI-Community Engagement

Our CEI Case Studies

Our case studies showcase practical application of CEI in LMIC settings with focus on exploring best practice and highlighting challenges and barriers, as well as potential solutions. Learn about the tailored CEI activities.

THE TIGER STUDY

Task-shifting inguinal hernia repair between surgeons and non-surgeon physicians in rural Ghana.

THE STARFISH STUDY

Stoma Care For Improvement Research: Epidemiologic study of stoma cases in The Philippines and qualitative research on the challenges of stoma care.

Images from our Community Engagement Projects


Cohort Studies

Global Surgery - Cohort Studies

GlobalSurg & The NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery


Improving surgical outcomes through collaborative research

GlobalSurg is an international collaboration of surgical researchers including you!

Our international cohort studies aim to give grass-root surgeons the opportunity to participate in major projects. They will lack complexity and will not require extra resources or funding.

GlobalSurg International Cohort Studies

Every collaborator who contributes to data collection in a GlobalSurg cohort study will be a PubMed citable co-author on the final paper; we will aim for a high impact factor surgical journals and, where possible, ensure our papers are open access. You can see examples of our publication model in our published papers available on our publications page

GlobalSurg cohort projects will be designed to ensure they are easy for local surgeons to execute and will act as a hypothesis generating observational tool for future global research studies, including the opportunity for randomised trials.

You can read about our past cohort studies, GlobalSurg 1 and GlobalSurg 2 on the project hub pages

Any hospital in the world performing acute general surgery can participate

Individuals can participate as local collaborators or regional/country leads

What is your role?

Local Collaborators

At each centre, local investigators can form a team of up to 3 people (including themselves) to accurately perform patient identification and data collection. Local investigators will be specifically responsible for:

  • Gaining local audit or research approval
  • Ideally forming a team of 2-3 people (including themselves) to identify patients and collect data (team names submitted with final data).
  • Creating clear mechanisms to identify and include eligible patients
  • Identifying clear pathways to establish outcome

Regional/National Leads

National coordinators are encouraged to spread the protocol to interested colleagues in different hospitals. Each coordinator is asked to deliver at least 10 participating centres. Multiple sub-coordinators per country working together are also encouraged, especially in larger countries. Coordinators are allowed to translate the protocol for dissemination where appropriate. The extra efforts of these people will be clearly identified in a separate section of final manuscripts.

Images from The International Cohort Studies


Clinical Trials

Global Surgery - Clinical Trials

GlobalSurg & The NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery


Improving surgical outcomes through collaborative research

In order to change practice and improve outcomes for surgical patients, the highest quality evidence that a  treatment is effective is required. This level of evidence can only be generated in the setting of  high quality international, multi-centre randomised controlled trials.

 

Clinical trials are highly complex and regulated and therefore will be conducted only in NIHR Unit on Global Surgery hub countries.

 

Each hub will enrol patients into trials and will work with other hospitals within their country to ensure a good mix of participating centres from tertiary referral units through to rural community hospitals in remote settings.

 

If your hospital is in an NIHR Unit on Global Surgery hub country and you would be interested in taking part in a GlobalSurg clinical trial, please contact your nearest hub via our contacts page.

Over 5 billion people around the world lack access to safe affordable surgical care”
The Lancet Commission 2017


... But we are making a difference

Nothing found.

GSU-Studies-Access-1

ACCESS STUDY

The majority of the world’s population lack access to timely hospital care. In low & middle income countries, 98% of patients lack access to safe, affordable surgical care.

Those that do reach hospital often experience delays in their care, contributing to the observed increased death rates in LMICs.

Find out More
GSU Case Study Burns

BURNS TRIAL

Burns are a significant contributor to the burden of disease in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Although current guidelines recommend treatment in specialized treatment centres, such centres are few or non-existent in many LMIC settings.

This study is a prospective observational study comparing outcomes of burns treatments between non-specialised and specialised burns units.

Find out More
Project Cheetah

CHEETAH TRIAL

The main CHEETAH trial is assessing whether the practice of using separate, sterile gloves and instruments to close wounds at the end of surgery can reduce surgical site infection at 30-days post-surgery for patients undergoing clean-contaminated, contaminated or dirty abdominal surgery, compared to current routine hospital practice.

Using information from FALCON KIWI and primary data collection in CHEETAH, the cost-effectiveness of the changing gloves/instruments prior to wound closure compared to current routine hospital practice will be assessed.

Find out More
Project Crane

CRANE STUDY

CRANE is a feasibility study of a nutritional intervention to improve outcomes after cancer surgery in low-income countries. It aims to identify and validate a nutritional screening tool; identify a low cost sustainable nutritional intervention; and investigate recruitment and retention, data collection methods and the acceptability of a nutritional intervention to improve outcomes after cancer surgery in low- and middle-income countries.

The health economics component looks at the feasibility of collecting economic data and the design of resource use forms for a full trial. The health economics is particularly important essential given the importance of cost effectiveness in developing a long term sustainable solution.

Find out More
Studies- GSU - Crocodile

CROCODILE STUDY

‘Little is known about colorectal cancer treatment delivery in India and the associated costs. CROCODILE aims to identify financial and non-financial barriers for colorectal cancer treatment compliance in India.’

Find out More
Project Eagle

EAGLE STUDY

The ESCP Safe-anastomosis Programme in Colorectal Surgery (EAGLE) is an international, cluster randomised-sequence study of a Safe-anastomosis Quality Improvement Intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy and ileocaecal resection

Anastomotic leak is a severe, potentially life-threatening complication following right colectomy. Internationally, anastomotic leak occurs after 8% of right colectomies. Prospective cohort data demonstrate that patient selection, intraoperative factors, and technical variation are risk factors for anastomotic leak.

Find out More
Project Falcon

FALCON TRIAL

The FALCON trial looks into the prevention of surgical site infections (SSI) in low- and middle- income countries.

The health economics sub-study within FALCON is named KIWI (Key Resource Use In Wound Infection).

Surgical site infection (SSI) is a worldwide problem which has morbidity, mortality and financial consequences .Previous studies in LMICs on the costs of SSI have been limited by small sample size single-centre hospitals which did not capture costs occurring after hospital discharge. The lack of follow up is a problem as SSI can occur after discharge and costs associated with SSI have been shown to persist beyond 30 days. The main FALCON trial is assessing different treatment combinations to reduce Surgical Site Infection (SSI). The FALCON KIWI sub study is assessing the resource use and costs for patients with and without SSI across several hub countries.

Find out More
Studies- GSU - Feather

FEATHER STUDY

FEATHER is an investigation using qualitative methods embedded within several international multi-centre randomised trials (a study within a trial or SWAT).

Find out More

GECKO STUDY

GECKO (Global Evaluation of Cholecystectomy Knowledge and Outcomes) is a global, observational cohort study. The GlobalSurg Network collaborators will come together to collect contemporaneous data on the performance and outcomes of cholecystectomy.

Find out More
Studies- GSU - Giraffe

GIRAFFE STUDY

GIRAFFE (a patient-blinded, international, multicentre, cluster-sequence, randomised controlled study) uses an on-line education/training tool to improve in-theatre performance and perioperative care of patients undergoing emergency laparotomy and thereby seek to reduce postoperative hospital deaths.

Find out More
GSU-GlobalSurge1

GlobalSurg 1

GlobalSurg 1 aimed to identify variation in outcome of emergency intra-abdominal surgery across international settings in order to determine whether globally relevant quality improvement strategies are needed within acute surgical units.

Find out More
GSU-GlobalSurge2

GlobalSurg 2

GlobalSurg 2 aimed to determine worldwide surgical site infection (SSI) rates following gastrointestinal surgery. The primary outcome measure for the study was 30 day surgical site infection rate.

Find out More
GSU-GlobalSurge3

GlobalSurg 3

GlobalSurg 3 aimed to determine the variation in quality of cancer care surgery worldwide. The study concentrated on the most surgically-treated cancers worldwide: breast, gastric and colorectal cancer.’

Find out More

HIPPO STUDY

HIPPO (Hernias, Pathway and Planetary Outcomes for Inguinal Hernia Surgery) is a global, prospective cohort study that aims to:

  1. Characterise the global backlog for elective surgery
  2. Technique, training and operating surgeon variation
  3. Explore environmentally sustainable practices in operating theatres
Find out More
Studies- GSU - Kiwi

KIWI STUDY

The FALCON KIWI sub study is assessing the resource use and costs for patients with and without SSI across several hub countries. KIWI includes resource use collection (via additional CRFs) up to the 30-day follow-up assessment for patients and extended follow-up for any patients with an ongoing wound infection up to 60 days post-surgery.’

Find out More
Studies- GSU - Lion

LION STUDY

LION (LaparoscopIc Versus Open Appendectomy): Cost comparison in a lower- middle income setting

This study aims to compare the outcome and cost of conventional open and laparoscopic appendectomy for clinically confirmed, uncomplicated, acute appendicitis in a low resource setting. Although the cost effectiveness of laparoscopic surgery has been investigated previously in high human development index (HDI) countries, similar studies are lacking in low and middle HDI countries.

Led by Dr Adewale Adisa at the NIHR hub in Nigeria, this study will compare outcomes following open and laparoscopic appendectomy in approximately 150 patients at 3 hospitals in Nigeria.

Find out More

PANDA STUDY

The PANDA Study seeks to use qualitative methods to understand what matters to patients in their receipt of surgical care, to prioritise these themes, and explore differences across countries and contexts

Find out More
Project Penguin

PENGUIN TRIAL

The PENGUIN trial is a 2 x 2 factorial, international pragmatic randomised trial. The trial aims to assess whether preoperative chlorhexidine mouthwash when compared to no-mouthwash-surgery can reduce incidence of post-operative pneumonia (POP) and whether perioperative liberal oxygen versus restrictive oxygen can reduce incidence surgical site infections (SSI) at 30-days among abdominal surgery patients.

Find out More

PROTECT SURG TRIAL

The PENGUIN trial is a 2 x 2 factorial, international pragmatic randomised trial. The trial aims to assess whether preoperative chlorhexidine mouthwash when compared to no-mouthwash-surgery can reduce incidence of post-operative pneumonia (POP) and whether perioperative liberal oxygen versus restrictive oxygen can reduce incidence surgical site infections (SSI) at 30-days among abdominal surgery patients.

Find out More
Studies- GSU - Starfish

STARFISH STUDY

SToma cARe For Improvement reSearcH (STARFISH): Epidemiologic study of stoma cases in Lower- and Middle-Income Countries and qualitative research on the challenges on stoma care.

The STARFISH study uses a mixed methods approach to assess the burden and challenges of stoma care in low and middle income settings.

Starfish comprises 3 separate sub-studies:

1. A survey at selected healthcare facilities to collect data on stoma incidence, types, indications and complications.

2. Focus groups and one-to-one interviews with patients, carers and health care providers involved in stoma care

3. Development of a questionnaire for stoma patients in low and middle income settings to collect standardised data on stoma care

Find out More

TALON STUDY

TALON is a sub-study embedded in the FALCON and CHEETAH trials, run as part of an NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship in Global Surgery. The aim of the sub-studies is to improve the quality and efficiency of surgical trial methodology across low- and middle-income countries.

Find out More
Studies- GSU - Tiger

TIGER STUDY

TIGER (Task shifting Inguinal hernia Repair between surgeons and technicians): development of a randomised trial in low and middle income countries

Can technicians perform mesh inguinal hernia repair safely and cost-effectively in rural surgical settings in low and middle income countries?

This pilot trial aims to investigate delivery of a standardised, measurable training programme for technicians to perform a mesh inguinal hernia repair.

Find out More

Wellcome Leap: SAVE

SAVE (Surgery: Assess/ Validate/ Expand) is the new programme from the GSU focusing on accelerating laprascopic skills acquisition and enhancing postoperative monitoring through technology.

Find out More

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.