Committee on Global Engagement

Meet the New Committee on Global Engagement Executive Committee

Committee on Global Engagement

Raphael C. Lee, MD, ScD, FACS, is the Paul and Allene Russell Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago. He is a surgeon and biomedical engineer whose clinical and research work focuses on the molecular pathophysiology of tissue trauma and the development of trauma pharmacotherapeutics inspired by natural cytoprotective stress proteins.

His distinguished career includes numerous honors, including a MacArthur Fellowship, Searle Scholarship, James Barrett Brown Award, and AIMBE Pierre Galletti Award. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been elected to several prestigious professional societies. 

Dr. Lee also has cofounded three biotechnology companies and served in leadership roles across clinical and scientific organizations.

CAPT Tamara Worlton, MD, FACS, is an associate professor of surgery at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), where she serves as director of global surgery. She also is director of research and analysis at the National Institute for Defense Health Cooperation at USU.

CAPT Worlton has served as Chair of the ACS H.O.P.E. Education Subcommittee since 2024 and is chair of the Excelsior Surgical Society Global Surgery Committee.

Her global surgery efforts have focused on the Indo-Pacific region through her work as a Fulbright Scholar in Sri Lanka and multiple research grants in the Philippines.

Advocacy Subcommittee

Rondi Kauffmann, MD, MPH, FACS, FCS (ECSA), is an associate professor of surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in physiological sciences from the University of California, Los Angeles, and completed her medical and public health degrees at the University of Minnesota.

She is board-certified in general surgery, having completed her residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and in complex surgical oncology, having completed her fellowship at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her clinical expertise includes caring for patients with melanoma, soft tissue malignancies, and breast cancer.

Dr. Kauffmann is surgical director of Vanderbilt's Center for Experiential Learning and Assessment; associate program director for the general surgery residency program; director of the Vanderbilt Global Health Excellence, Availability, and Leadership in Surgery program; and vice chair for global surgery in the Section of Surgical Sciences. She also directs Vanderbilt International Surgery's collaborative efforts with AIC Kijabe Hospital in Kijabe, Kenya.

Her research focuses on global surgery and global surgical education. She lives with her husband and three children on a farm in Burns, Tennessee.

Samer Sbayi, MD, MBA, FACS, serves as Vice Chair of the ACS H.O.P.E. Advocacy Subcommittee and is a member of the ACS International Relations Committee. Clinically, he is chair of the Department of Surgery at Glen Cove Hospital, director of abdominal core health for the Eastern Region at Northwell Health, and assistant professor of surgery at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell.

A board-certified general surgeon specializing in advanced robotic abdominal wall reconstruction and complex hernia repair, Dr. Sbayi focuses his advocacy efforts on cross-border licensure compacts, volunteer liability frameworks, and health system policy.

He also represents surgical priorities on the Global Health Council's Budget and Appropriations Committee. Dr. Sbayi earned his medical degree from Universidad Tecnológica de Santiago (UTESA) and holds a Master of Business Administration in healthcare administration.

Domestic Subcommittee

Theresa Chin, MD, FACS, is an associate professor of surgery within the Divisions of Emergency General Surgery and Trauma, Burns, and Critical Care.

She earned her medical degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, and completed her residency at the University of Colorado, where she also earned a Master of Public Health degree. She subsequently completed a burn and trauma critical care fellowship at the University of Washington and Harborview Medical Center.

Dr. Chin serves on several committees, including the ACS Committee on Trauma, the American Burn Association, and the Association of Academic Global Surgery. She currently serves as Chair of the Domestic Subcommittee of the ACS H.O.P.E. Committee on Global Engagement.

Jessica Minesinger, CMOM, CMPE, FACMPE, BBCC, is the founder and CEO of Surgical Compensation & Consulting (SCC), a compensation strategy firm that works with physicians and healthcare organizations to design and negotiate provider compensation models.

Her work focuses on compensation transparency, workforce sustainability, and alignment between clinical and administrative leadership. She is MGMA's principal independent consultant on provider compensation and a BBC-certified executive leadership coach through the NeuroLeadership Institute.

Minesinger regularly speaks to medical and surgical associations on contract negotiation, compensation benchmarking, and the gender wage gap in surgery. She serves as Vice Chair of the Domestic Subcommittee of the ACS H.O.P.E. Committee on Global Engagement.

Education Subcommittee

Christopher Dodgion, MD, MSPH, MBA, FACS, is a professor of trauma surgery and director of global surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He currently serves as president of the Association of Academic Global Surgery and incoming Chair of the ACS H.O.P.E. Education Subcommittee.

Dr. Dodgion has been part of the ACS H.O.P.E./COSECSA partnership with Hawassa University since its inception, helping Ethiopian colleagues establish Advanced Trauma Life Support® (ATLS®) and train the country's first instructors, who subsequently launched the course in Rwanda.

He now is supporting Zambian colleagues through a similar launch. In collaboration with the ACS Committee on Trauma, he developed eTEAM, a virtual adaptation of the College's Trauma Evaluation and Management course designed to make trauma training more accessible.

Dr. Dodgion co-chairs World Health Organization workgroups on surgical data collection and quality improvement. With the International Association for Trauma Surgery and Intensive Care (IATSIC), he leads TEACH-Trauma, an effort to map, align, and strengthen trauma education worldwide.

Jennifer Rickard, MD, MPH, FACS, is an associate professor of surgery at the University of Minnesota, with a clinical focus on trauma, surgical critical care, and emergency general surgery.

Dr. Rickard earned her medical degree from the University of Wisconsin and completed her surgical residency at Rush University. She subsequently completed the Paul Farmer Global Surgery Fellowship and earned her Master of Public Health degree at Harvard University before completing a surgical critical care fellowship at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Rickard is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a National Institutes of Health-funded investigator with more than 120 publications. She has spoken at numerous national and international conferences, with a focus on global health and surgical infections.

Her global health work focuses on health system strengthening and surgical capacity development. 

International Subcommittee

Ugoeze Nwokedi, MD, FACS, is a minimally invasive and bariatric surgeon at Parkview Health in Indiana, where she also serves as associate program director for the general surgery residency and education institute and surgical director for the Parkview Mirro Center for Research & Innovation.

She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and her medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Dr. Nwokedi completed her general surgery residency at Houston Methodist Hospital and subsequently completed a minimally invasive and advanced gastrointestinal fellowship.

She is board-certified by the American Board of Surgery. Her academic and clinical interests include global surgery, surgical education, and surgical simulation.

Bindi Naik-Mathuria, MD, FACS, is a pediatric surgeon and professor of surgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch. She was born and raised in Kenya.

Dr. Naik-Mathuria completed her general surgery residency at Baylor College of Medicine, a pediatric surgery fellowship at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, surgical critical care training at Baylor College of Medicine, and a Master of Public Health degree at Johns Hopkins University.

She previously served as trauma medical director at Baylor/Texas Children's Hospital and division chief of pediatric surgery and director of global health education at the University of Texas Medical Branch.

Dr. Naik-Mathuria receives funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for pediatric firearm injury prevention. A strong advocate for children's safety and equitable, high-quality care, she is passionate about global surgery.

For the past decade, she has provided sustained support for pediatric surgery in Kenya and Uganda through education, equipment, capacity building, and funding through her nonprofit foundation. She also serves as an executive board member of the Global Initiative for Children's Surgery (GICS).

ACS H.O.P.E. 2026 Clinical Congress Resident Scholarship

The ACS H.O.P.E. Clinical Congress Resident Scholarship provides selected surgical residents with $1,000 each to attend the one-day didactic course, “Global Health Competencies for Surgeons: Key Concepts, Evidence, and Practical Approaches for Responsible and Effective Engagement,” at the 2026 ACS Clinical Congress in Washington, DC.

The scholarship covers course registration and helps offset travel expenses, offering residents an opportunity to expand their global surgery knowledge, connect with leaders in the field, and explore approaches to advancing equitable surgical care. This initiative reflects ACS H.O.P.E.'s commitment to supporting the next generation of global surgery leaders through education and professional development. This year's scholarship recipients are highlighted below.

Kyle Alexander, MD

Dr. Alexander is a general surgery resident at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System and ACS Academic Global Surgery Fellow. As the recipient of the 2025 ACS H.O.P.E. Resident Research Scholarship, Dr. Alexander collaborated with surgical colleagues at Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital in Ethiopia to strengthen trauma care, surgical education, and health systems. His work has focused on evaluating trauma system capacity, identifying gaps in care, and developing sustainable, locally driven improvements. A key achievement was the development and implementation of a trauma team alert system in collaboration with emergency medicine, surgery, and nursing colleagues in Hawassa.

Alexander has also contributed to initiatives supporting surgical registries, laparoscopic surgery, and resident education. Through his research and longitudinal engagement with the ACS H.O.P.E. Surgical Training Collaborative, he remains committed to advancing equitable surgical care, strengthening local capacity, and fostering sustainable international partnerships.

Jesus Lima, MD

Dr. Lima is a second-year general surgery resident at Centro Médico Docente La Trinidad in Venezuela. Growing up, he witnessed his once-prosperous country face increasing economic hardship and poverty, experiences that shaped his commitment to medicine and improving healthcare access.

Driven by a passion for biology and patient care, Lima completed eight years of medical training despite challenges related to university underfunding and the COVID-19 pandemic. One of his most meaningful experiences was serving as a general physician during his rural service year in Pedro Camejo, a community in Caracas, where he developed strong relationships with patients and earned their trust.

Lima successfully completed Step 1 of the United States Medical Licensing Examination and hopes to pursue a surgical fellowship in the US. Ultimately, he aspires to become a global surgeon, contributing to healthcare policy, strengthening health institutions, and advancing equitable access to surgical care in Venezuela.

Nicolás Lozano-Suárez, MD

Dr. Lozano-Suárez is a third-year general surgery resident at Universidad CES in Medellín, Colombia. He completed his medical education and graduate studies in epidemiology at Universidad del Rosario. His approach to surgery reflects a commitment to improving clinical outcomes and strengthening the healthcare systems that shape access to surgical care.

Lozano-Suárez has helped advance collaborative, multicenter surgical research in Colombia, co-leading the country's first national prospective cohort study on perioperative outcomes using criteria established by the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery. The findings were published in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas.

He also developed and validated an artificial intelligence-based risk calculator designed to predict surgical outcomes within the Colombian population. His work aims to translate research into practical tools that improve patient care.

His long-term goal is to help develop Colombia's first National Surgical, Obstetric, and Anesthesia Plan, strengthening surgical systems and expanding equitable access to care nationwide.

Rania Mansour, MBBS

Dr. Mansour is a general surgery resident at Mayo Clinic Arizona whose international experiences have shaped her commitment to global health, health equity, and improving access to surgical care.

Raised in Canada, she completed high school in Beirut, Lebanon, before earning undergraduate degrees in human biology and psychology from the University of Toronto. She later completed graduate studies in public health at the University of Pennsylvania, focusing on the sociopolitical determinants of health in resource-limited settings.

Mansour completed a global health policy internship at the World Medical Association in France and served as a women's health programmer in a refugee camp in Greece. While working as a health researcher in Lebanon, she witnessed disparities in access to emergency surgical care that inspired her to pursue medicine.

As an ACS H.O.P.E. Resident Scholarship awardee, Mansour is committed to advancing equitable surgical care through sustainable, locally driven capacity development and international collaboration.

Thanh-Tin (Andrew) Nguyen, MD

Dr. Nguyen is a general surgery resident at the University of New Mexico with a strong interest in advancing surgical education through innovative technologies.

As a recipient of the Fogarty Global Health Fellowship, Nguyen will spend one year at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. His project focuses on developing and implementing a tissue-based laparoscopic simulation curriculum and evaluating its impact on surgical skill acquisition, participant satisfaction, and laparoscopic surgical volume.

The curriculum incorporates high-fidelity simulation models and a mobile platform that enables remote feedback from surgical experts, supporting ongoing skills development and expanding access to surgical training.

Nguyen's academic interests lie at the intersection of technology, medicine, and global surgery. He hopes to pursue a career in academic surgery, developing innovative, scalable, and sustainable solutions that improve surgical training and patient care in resource-limited settings. Outside of medicine, he enjoys cooking, running, swimming, and playing the guitar.

Vitalis Osuji, MD

Dr. Osuji is a surgical trainee whose academic and professional experiences reflect a strong commitment to global health, mental health, and improving access to essential surgical care.

He completed his undergraduate studies in behavioral neuroscience at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, before pursuing medical and graduate education in public health and epidemiology at Indiana University School of Medicine.

Osuji began his general surgery residency at Baystate Medical Center before transferring to New York City to continue his surgical training. Throughout his training, he has founded initiatives including the Vital Healing Project and 7 Elements, reflecting his interests in mental health and global health, respectively.

His passion for global surgery is rooted in the belief that access to essential surgical care should not be determined by geographic location or socioeconomic circumstances. Looking ahead, Osuji hopes to combine clinical excellence, education, advocacy, and international collaboration to strengthen surgical systems and advance equitable access to high-quality surgical care worldwide.

Wardah Rafaqat, MD

Dr. Rafaqat is a PGY-3 general surgery resident at the University of Wisconsin whose clinical and research interests focus on global surgery, health equity, and improving access to high-quality surgical care for underserved populations.

Before residency, Rafaqat completed a 2-year research fellowship in trauma, emergency general surgery, and surgical critical care at Massachusetts General Hospital. During this fellowship, she conducted outcomes research examining healthcare access and disparities among disadvantaged communities, including patients with disabilities.

She plans to pursue additional training in pediatric surgery and an academic career that integrates clinical practice, research, and global health initiatives.

As an ACS Resident Member and recipient of the 2026 ACS H.O.P.E. Clinical Congress Resident Scholarship, Rafaqat looks forward to expanding her knowledge of global surgery, learning from leaders in the field, and building meaningful collaborations. Through these opportunities, she hopes to contribute to sustainable improvements in surgical systems and advance equitable access to care worldwide.

Madelyn Zapata-Valentín, MD

Dr. Zapata-Valentín is a PGY-4 general surgery resident at Centro Médico Episcopal San Lucas in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Her path to medicine was shaped by witnessing loved ones and members of her community face challenges accessing cancer care, inspiring her commitment to addressing healthcare disparities.

She completed her medical education at Ponce Health Sciences University and her undergraduate studies at Emory University, where she developed a deeper understanding of how geography and available resources influence patient outcomes.

Throughout her residency, Zapata-Valentín has combined surgical training with leadership roles and community-focused research. Her work addresses health disparities, organ donation, and vascular outcomes, reflecting her dedication to strengthening healthcare systems and improving patient care.

As a Latina physician from Puerto Rico, she hopes to expand access to cancer services in her community while mentoring future generations of surgeons who share her commitment to health equity and service.