Our team

Making life-saving surgical care available to all.

Secretariat

The Secretariat runs GSF’s day-to-day work, from our programmes and partnerships to SURGhub and SURGfund.

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Dr. Mélanie Samson

Programme Lead, Women’s Health

Marta Erroz

Operations Manager

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Florian Schneider

Communications Consultant

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Cindy Moige

Project Associate

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Thierry Ramos

Grant and Project Manager

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Dr. Jean Chamberlain

Clinical Lead, Women’s Health

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Sebastian Hofbauer

Programme Manager

Dr. Geoff Ibbotson

Executive Director

Jan Plavcan

Senior Advisor, Strategy and Partnerships

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Governing bodies

GSF is a non-profit foundation under Swiss law. Our governance brings together a Foundation Board, a High-Level Council and a Technical Advisory Council.

Foundation Board

The Foundation Board is GSF’s highest governing body and holds final responsibility for its strategy, finances and oversight.

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Dr. Phumzile
Mlambo-Ngcuka

Board Member

Prof. Rifat Atun

Board Chair

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John Cross

Board Member

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Nikhil Seth

Board Member

High-Level Council

The High-Level Council brings together leaders from governments, multilateral organisations, academia, civil society and the private sector, representing different regional and clinical constituencies. It supports GSF on strategy, resource mobilisation, and finance, audit and risk.

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Dr. Ifereimi Waquainabete

Western Pacific

Dr. Barnabas Alayande

Academia

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Dr. Adrian Gelb

Americas

Roland Göhde

Private Sector

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Stella Itungu

Council Chair

Dr. Noor Hisham

South & South-East Asia

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Dr. Maira Caleffi

Americas

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Pradeep Kakkattil

NGOs

Ricardo Leite

Europe & Central Asia

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Dr. John Meara

Academia

Justin Narducci

NGOs

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Dr. Aly Shalaby

Middle East & North Africa

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Lauren Marks

Private Sector

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Dr. Patricia Shinondo

Professional Societies

Rali Mampeule

Philanthropic Donors

Dr. Emmanuel Makasa

Sub-Saharan Africa

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Dr. Liz McLeod

Western Pacific

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Susie Schaefer

Organisational Founders

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Ambassador Paul Bekkers

Europe & Central Asia

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Dr. Reem Al Bunyan

Middle East & North Africa

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Dr. Mpoki Ulisubisya

Sub-Saharan Africa

Technical Advisory Council

The Technical Advisory Council contributes clinical and technical expertise, including the review of grant proposals, implementation guidance, and monitoring and evaluation.

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Dr. Abebe Bekele

Professional Societies

Dr. Freddy Gnangnon

Francophone Africa

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Prof. Vahit Özmen

Europe & Central Asia

Dr. Matchecane Cossa

Sub-Saharan Africa

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Dr. Walt Johnson

NGOs

Dr. Ronke Desalu

Professional Societies

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Dr. Kee Park

Americas

Dr. Bhagawan Koirala

South & South-East Asia

Dr. Nesrine Elrefai

Middle-East & North Africa

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Dr. Neil Wetzig

Western Pacific

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Dr. Chris Lundgren

Academia

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Advisors

Our advisors share their expertise in global surgery, health systems and policy to strengthen our work.

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Dr. Anam Noor Ehsan

Dr. Benjamin Gold

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Dr. Ché L. Reddy

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Dr. Kusum Thapa

Julio Andrade

Dr. Mark Shrime

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Dr. Sarah Nasser

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Lawal-Aiyedun R. Olubunmi

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Dr. Matthias Rüger

Dr. Scott Corlew

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Dr. Onyema Ajuebor

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Jitze Kramer

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Dr. Alfredo Borrero

Special Envoy

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Dr. Kavitha Ranganathan

Prof. Hadiza Galadanci

Prof. Rahel Nardos

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