Dr. Emmanuel A. Ameh is a Professor of Pediatric Surgery and Chief Consultant Pediatric Surgeon at the National Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria. He was formerly Professor and Chief of Pediatric Surgery at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Nigeria. His global health work focuses on global surgery and access to children’s surgical care in low-resource settings. He led the creation of the National Surgical, Obstetrics, Anaesthesia and Nursing Plan for Nigeria, which is the first-ever national surgical plan to include and prioritize children’s surgery, and is currently leading its implementation.

He is involved in the development of educational and training programmes for the West African College of Surgeons, the Association of Pediatric Surgeons of Nigeria, and the Pan African Pediatric Surgical Association. To support pediatric surgical training in Africa, he led the publishing of the comprehensive pediatric surgery textbook for Africa, which is now in its second edition. He was a Commissioner for the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery and the Lancet Nigeria Commission, is the immediate past Chair of the Global Initiative for Children’s Surgery, and is President of the Pan African Paediatric Surgical Association. 

As part of his work to strengthen surgical healthcare in Africa, he led the scientific working group for the Africa Surgical Initiative 2030 project and is presently on the technical team for the Pan African Surgical Healthcare Forum (PASHeF). Dr. Ameh has been a long-time advocate for scaling up and strengthening surgery and children’s surgical care in low- and middle-income countries and continues to invest much of his time and efforts to train the next generation of pediatric surgeons in Nigeria and Africa, as well as the next generation of global surgery practitioners.

Dr. Sherry Wren is a Professor of Surgery and serves as the Director of Global Surgery for the Center for Innovation and Global Health at Stanford University. She is widely recognized as a leader in the surgical community and currently serves as the Secretary of the American College of Surgeons. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the World Journal of Surgery, in addition to being an Editorial Board member of JAMA Surgery for 13 years. Dr. Wren currently practices as a board-certified general surgeon, specializing in the treatment of complex hepatobiliary diseases and gastrointestinal cancers.

Dr. Wren completed her medical education at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, followed by residency training at Yale New Haven Hospital and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She has also undergone fellowship training in advanced hepatobiliary surgery and possesses expertise in utilizing open, laparoscopic, and robotic approaches.

Dr. Wren is also very involved in humanitarian surgery and global surgery endeavors, which began with her early engagement with Doctors Without Borders in 2006. She actively collaborates with several non-profit organizations and takes a leading role in managing educational partnerships in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr. Kofi Boahene is a Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and Dermatology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is the Director of the Division of Facial Plastics and Reconstructive Surgery and the Director of the Facial Plastics Fellowship Program. His professional expertise encompasses the full spectrum of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery, including both cosmetic enhancements and reconstructive procedures.

Originally from Ghana, Dr. Boahene initially intended to pursue veterinary medicine, which led him to study in Russia. There was a transformative moment guided by mentorship that redirected his aspirations toward becoming a medical doctor in the United States.

Dr. Boahene earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Central Arkansas before attending Meharry Medical College for his medical education. He completed a five-year surgical residency training program in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at the Mayo Clinic, followed by fellowship training in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of Minnesota.

Beyond his clinical and academic pursuits, Dr. Boahene is deeply committed to global surgical care. He is the founder and president of the Foundation for Special Surgery, a non-profit organization dedicated to delivering highly specialized surgical care in resource-limited settings across multiple countries. Additionally, he serves as a mission leader for Face the Future Foundation and actively participates as a surgeon with Children's Surgery International. Dr. Boahene has also established the West Africa Institute for Special Surgery (WAISS), a specialty surgical hospital located in Accra, the capital of Ghana. WAISS leverages the expertise of surgeons from around the world to provide specialized surgical training and care.

Johns Hopkins Center for Global Surgery Coordinator

Michelle Odonkor is an MD-MPH candidate at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine & Bloomberg School of Public Health. She also serves as one of the coordinators for the Johns Hopkins Global Surgery Initiative (JHGSI). Her research interests are in global neurosurgery, capacity building, and health systems strengthening. She has a variety of experiences in clinical and laboratory research, global and public health, education, and consulting, and is eager to synthesize these diverse perspectives to improve access to surgical care worldwide.

Johns Hopkins Center for Global Surgery Coordinator

Ian Wong is an MPH candidate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He earned his medical degree from Wroclaw Medical University in Poland. Currently, he serves as one of the program coordinators for the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Surgery. His research interests include surgical systems strengthening, capacity building, trauma systems, and musculoskeletal care. His long-term goal is to develop a career enriched through involvement in global surgery.

Anshuman Agrawal is an MD candidate at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is passionate about integrating biomedical engineering with global health to improve access to life-saving technologies in resource-limited settings across the world.

Parth Agrawal is an MD candidate at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine after completing a B.S. in biochemistry and B.A. in economics from the University of Chicago. He is one of the co-presidents of the JHSOM Global Surgery Student Alliance and has worked on global health research projects most recently in Nigeria, South Africa, and France. He is passionate about research involving transplant and cardiothoracic surgery outcomes.

Noor Alesawy is a Master's student studying Global Health Economics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health where she is also the Student Body President and a research student in the Hopkins Hospital Department of Neurosurgery and the Human Spaceflight Lab. She completed her BS in Neuroscience at the University of Michigan in 2023 where she conducted surgical innovation research at Michigan Medicine with a focus on augmented reality then on campus she presided over the global surgery student alliance and the national honor society in neuroscience.

Umar Arshad is a second-year MD candidate at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed a BA in Neuroscience and Economics at the University of Virginia. He is interested in global surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery and refugee health.

Anthony Bishara is a first-year MD candidate at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed a BA in Neuroscience and Healthcare Management at the Universite of Pennsylvania. He is passionate about global health, anesthesia/critical care, plastic and reconstructive surgery, and HIV/Sexually Transmissible Diseases.

Arushi Biswas is a second-year MD candidate at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She completed a BSE in Biomedical Engineering and AB in Global Health at Duke University and is passionate about global health, engineering, plastic and reconstructive surgery, and pediatric general surgery.

Claudia Fernandez Perez is currently a medical student at the Georgetown University School of Medicine. Prior to medical school, she completed an MHS in Global Health Economics at the Bloomberg School of Public Health and spent a year working as a research coordinator at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She hopes to pursue a career at the intersection of healthcare, health economics, and neurosurgery – empowering patients and supporting partnership and capacity building in global health and global surgery.

Rose Jang is a Certified Perioperative Registered Nurse and an MPH candidate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She completed her Master of Science in Nursing at Pennsylvania State University. She is passionate about patient safety, quality/process improvement, and health systems in surgery.

Elizabeth Khvatova is a second year MSPH student studying Health Systems at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She completed her BSc in Neuroscience and Economics at the University of Toronto. Elizabeth is interested in surgical access and quality, global surgery, and health systems.

Samarth Krishna is an MPH candidate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and earned a medical degree from Kalinga Institute of Medical Science in India. Samarth's research interests include trauma systems and capacity building, peripheral nerve injury, and global plastic surgery.

Joyce Lee is a first-year medical student at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She concentrated in Biology and International & Public Affairs at Brown University and is passionate about improving global health access and searching for the humanities in medicine.

Pallavi Menon is an MD candidate at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She completed a BA in Biology, BS in Economics, and MS in Biology at the University of Pennsylvania and an MSc in Evidence-Based Interventions and Policy Evaluation at Oxford University. She is passionate about global health particularly in India, pediatric surgery, and social and environmental determinants of health.

Shuait Nair is a second-year medical student at Hopkins. His academic interests include refugee health advocacy, global health policy, and surgery.

Asma Rayani is a medical graduate from Karachi, Pakistan, is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is passionate about enhancing critical care quality in low-resource settings and improving family counseling for populations with low health literacy in critical care.

Angela Renne is a first-year MD candidate at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She completed a dual degree in Global Health and Biology at Duke University and has a vested interest and experience in global reconstructive and trauma surgery.

Manuj Shah is a current third-year medical student at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed his undergraduate degrees in chemistry and neuroscience at Rice University in Houston, TX. He now looks to apply into a general surgery residency with interests in global surgery, clinical research, community outreach, and medical education.

Shivani Shirodkar is currently an MPH candidate in the School of Public Health. Shivani has always been passionate about surgery, and is excited to be a part of the planning committee!

Linda Tang is a first year medical student at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She received a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Statistics from Duke University. She is passionate about improving surgical care access for underserved communities, trauma surgery, neurosurgery, and the application of artificial intelligence in medicine.

Nathnael Woldehana is a physician from Ethiopia doing his MPH at JHBSPH. Nathnael aims to specialize in General Surgery in the US, with a keen interest in leveraging Minimally Invasive Surgery to transform healthcare in low- and middle-income countries.