CHESA and collaborators incubate a prospective UC-wide Center of Expertise

The UC Global Health Institute (UCGHI) incubator awards are designed to support multi-campus and multidisciplinary teams to undertake transformative solutions to global health challenges. Surgical conditions account for 30% of the global burden of disease, but surgical and anesthesia care remain an under-supported element of the achievement of Universal Health Coverage. The Perioperative and Surgical Health Equity Center of Expertise (COE) would unite UC campuses, international universities, and non-governmental organization partners to address the need to equity-based perioperative care. Over the course of the next 12 months, a consortium of UC stakeholders and partners will develop a plan and proposal for the COE.

The consortium will be one of the first of its kind, building on the existing partnership between CHESA and 7 other UC campuses and their respective international and local partners. CHESA Director Dr. Doruk Ozgediz envisions that a UC-wide COE will “harness the breadth, depth, and diversity of engagement in work that advances health equity in surgery and perioperative care across the UC system.”

The COE would leverage the UC system and its global partner network to facilitate multi-directional exchange; train leading researchers and change agents, and engage in research and partnerships that center community and patient perspectives.

Dr. Ozgediz believes a COE will “allow the many existing partnerships and initiatives to amplify their impact, share lessons learned, and expand work.” This multidirectional exchange across academic centers, disciplines, and community agents will benefit students, trainees, and faculty at all partner sites. Theresa L. Chin, Assistant Professor of Surgery at UCI says “the Center of Expertise will be a central point for students, trainees, faculty and partners to allow for collaboration on projects, sharing of resources and expansion of ideas. It will allow students and trainees to identify cross-campus faculty mentors that have similar interests.”

The driving force behind the incubation of the COE is improving health equity in both a domestic and global context. The COE would approach health inequities as a construct that lacks geographical borders and will engage both local and international stakeholders in community engagement.

Dr. Chin says Global surgery is more than doing surgery in another country. While the initial focus may be on the operative aspect, global surgery encompasses the health care system, health policy, cultural barriers, injury and disease prevention, and long-term outcomes of surgical disease. “By increasing capacity and developing system-related changes we can have a greater impact on the public health pyramid.”

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