UCSF Center for Health Equity in Surgery and Anesthesia (CHESA)

The Center for Health Equity in Surgery and Anesthesia (CHESA) uses research, education, and advocacy to improve access to safe surgical, anesthesia and perioperative care in all settings. Below, we provide an update of CHESA’s work in 2024.

• Four anesthesia fellows graduated from the CHESA Fellowship program in July, including Drs. Ronald Bisegerwa, Isam Bsisu, Maryn Kanter, and Liana Valeanu, who was also a WFSA-CHESA Simulation Education Fellow mentored by Dr. Maytinee Lilaonitkul.
  • Drs. Valeanu and Lilaonitkul also co-led the SMiLE Anesthesia Simulation Education course in partnership with AAU, WFSA, and Makerere University in November, which had participants from across the East Africa region.
• Four anesthesia fellows joined the CHESA 2024–2026 cohort, including Dr. Nathalie Paul from Haiti, as well as Drs. Priscilla Aceng, Phiona Nansubuga, and Emmanuel Aporu from Uganda. These fellows will be mentored by CHESA leadership, including Drs. Cornel Sendagire, Fred Bulamba, Tyler Law, Adrian Gelb, and Mike Lipnick.
• Dr. Lundy Campbell deployed to the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia for three months with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to provide much-needed support to the Awash Military Hospital, caring for over 15,000 patients in the aftermath of the civil war. The hospital was overcrowded and lacked basic amenities, including running water. The ICRC continues efforts to improve sanitation, supplies, and overall facility conditions.
• Dr. Hung Nguyen continued his work in educational training and capacity-building at children's hospitals in northern Vietnam, with visits in 2024.
• CHESA, along with the Department of Emergency Medicine, continues to collaborate on and lead the UCSF-WHO Emergency, Critical, and Operative Care Collaborating Centre.
• With support from USAID, the CHESA team completed a multi-year review of USAID’s COVID-19 Oxygen Programs.
• CHESA hosted three undergraduate and four medical students for a 10-week summer internship program, which included mentorship on individual research projects and clinical shadowing experiences.
• Dr. Maytinee Lilaonitkul led the development of 20 anesthesia care modules for the WHO.
• Dr. Adrian Gelb was honored as the recipient of the ASA’s Nicholas M. Green Award for Outstanding Humanitarian Contributions.
• Drs. Tyler Law and Fred Bulamba received the First Place Editor’s Choice Award from Anesthesia & Analgesia for leading and publishing the Global Anesthesia Workforce Study.
• The Open Oximetry Project also completed the FDA funded prospective clinical trial on oximeter bias at ZSFG (The EquiOx Study), with collaboration and leadership from Drs. Carolyn Hendrickson, Tyler Law, Phil Bickler, and Mike Lipnick.
• The Open Oximetry Project received $1 million in funding from UNITAID through PATH to continue research activities that began in 2022.
  • The project launched a Diversity Toolkit to help medical device researchers conduct more equitable studies and developed and piloted a customizable infographic on best practices for pulse oximeter use among health practitioners.
  • Dissemination efforts are ongoing, with five abstracts submitted to various conferences, two manuscripts published, and seven public meetings hosted through the FDA-designated Open Oximetry Collaborative Community.
  • The team is currently working to open a Hypoxia Lab in Uganda to continue data collection.

Michael Lipnick, MD 
Co-founder, the UCSF Center for Health Equity in Surgery and Anesthesia (CHESA)