Leadership
Officers 2024
Tahmina Banu
Chair
Simone Abib
Chair Elect
Full Professor in Pediatric Surgery.
Head of Pediatric Surgical Oncology, Pediatric Oncology Institute — GRAACC, Federal University of São Paulo, Paulista School of Medicine.
President, International Society of Paediatric Surgical Oncology.
President, Crianca Segura — Safe Kids Brazil.
Post-graduate mentor — Federal University of São Paulo, Paulista School of Medicine.
Academic Coordinator of Santa Marcelina Medical School.
Areas of interest: Pediatric surgical oncology, pediatric trauma, pediatric trauma prevention.
Doruk Ozgediz, MD
Past Chair
Dr. Ozgediz is an Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco, where he is Director of the Center for Global Surgery and Health Equity. He has maintained a focus throughout his career on global health and surgical capacity building. He was a co-founder and is actively involved with the group Global Partners for Anesthesia and Surgery (GPAS), an organization focused on the improvement of peri-operative services in Kampala, Uganda.
Mohamed Shalaby
Secretary
Marilyn Butler, MD
Treasurer
At Large Directors
Abdelbasit Elsayed Ali
2024-2027
Pediatric Surgeon | Sudan
Dr. Ali is an Associate Professor of Paediatric Surgery at the University of Khartoum and a Consultant Paediatric Surgeon at Soba University Hospital in Khartoum, Sudan.
Currently, he is a Consultant and Chairman of Pediatric Surgery Department at King Saud Medical City in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He is a founding member and Ex convener of the Paediatric Surgery Specialty Council, Sudan Medical Specialization Board (SMSB) and a founding member and Academic Secretary of the Sudanese Association of Paediatric Surgeons (SAPS). He is a member of the Executive Council of Pan African Paediatric Surgical Association (PAPSA), and a member of the International Pediatric Endosurgery Group (IPEG).
Dayang Anita Abdul Aziz
2024-2027
Pediatric Surgeon | Malaysia
Dr. Dayang Anita Abdul Aziz was formerly Professor of Paediatric Surgery and Director of Tun Fatimah Hashim Women’s Leadership Centre at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). She is a Paediatric Surgeon by profession. She was the first woman Professor in Paediatric Surgery in Malaysia and at UKM. She was also the first woman to lead Paediatric Surgery services in an academic institution in Malaysia; she was Head of Paediatric Surgery at Faculty of Medicine UKM from 2011 till 2019. Dr. Dayang was instrumental for the development of Advanced Paediatric Laparoscopic Services and Advanced Surgical Skill Centre for Faculty of Medicine UKM. Dr. Dayang developed the postgraduate Paediatric Surgery programme for UKM and founded the National Paediatric Surgery Conjoined Committee. She was Lead Representative for UKM until she retired. She was also member of the core writing team for National Postgraduate Medical Curriculum (NPMC) in Paediatric Surgery. She is the first and only Asian currently appointed as International Examiner for European Board of Paediatric Surgery.
Sarah B. Cairo
2025-2028
Pediatric Surgeon | USA
Dr. Sarah Cairo is a general pediatric surgeon currently based in San Francisco, California. A graduate of Tufts University School of Medicine where she earned her Medical Degree and Masters in Public Health, Dr. Cairo completed a General Surgery Residency at Maine Medical Center and a Pediatric Surgery Fellowship at University of Texas Southwestern. Dr. Cairo’s strong interest in global surgery has led her to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nicaragua, and more recently to Uganda and Tanzania. Her work is focused on developing quality improvement programs and databases to drive the betterment of surgical access and outcomes for children worldwide.
Milind Chitnis
2024-2027
Pediatric Surgeon | South Africa
Mei Diao
2024-2027
Pediatric Surgeon | China
Prof Mei Diao is currently Vice Director and Professor, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing, China. She is in charge of Pediatric Minimal Invasive Surgery, Chinese Medical Association since 2020. She graduated from Capital Medical University in 1998, and achieved Doctor of Surgery from Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2005. She finished her surgical training and started her career as a full-time pediatric surgeon in Capital Institute of Pediatrics. She worked as a clinical tutor in the Department of Surgery, Chinese University of Hong Kong from 2000-2001, and postdoctoral research associate in the same department from 2005-2008. Since 2008, she worked with Prof Long LI, collaborating with Prof. PK Tam, Prof. KK Wong and International Pediatric Endosurgery Group (IPEG) committee to develop the laparoscopic annual meetings, minimal invasive surgery training programs, and live minimal invasive surgery workshops. She dedicated to the internationalization of pediatric surgery in mainland China in the past 15 years. Professor DIAO has special interests in the congenital biliary and anorectal malformations. She co-operated with the team to accomplish over 4000 laparoscopic surgeries in above 2 fields. She is the principle investigators of 9 national research grants, and co-principle investigators of 20 national research grants. She has published 57 peer-reviewed articles in various high-quality journals, such as Hepatology, Annals of Surgery, European Urology, New England Journal of Medicine. Working with Prof Long LI, she authored the Chinese guideline of pediatric laparoscopic management of choledochal cysts and anorectal malformations. She has been selected to be medical talent of Beijing Hospital Authority’s Ascent Plan, and high-qualified talent of Beijing Health System.
Beda R Espineda
2022-2025
Pediatric Surgeon | Philippines
- Associate Professor of Surgery II, MCU College of Medicine and Hospital
- Chairman, Wold Surgical Foundation Philippines
- Director, Philippine College of Surgeons, Surgical Outreach S.U.R.E Commission
Zipporah Gathuya, MD
2024-2027
Pediatric Anesthesiologist | Kenya
Katrine Lofberg
2024-2027
Pediatric Surgeon | Denmark
Dr. Katrine Lofberg is a pediatric surgeon currently based in Copenhagen, Denmark. A graduate of the University of Washington School of Medicine, Dr. Lofberg completed both General Surgery and Pediatric Surgery training at Oregon Health and Science University. Before relocating to Denmark, she practiced at Phoenix Children’s Hospital and OHSU, where she honed her skills in pediatric care. With a strong interest in global surgery, Dr. Lofberg has been deeply influenced by her public health work in South Africa, driving a commitment to improving surgical outcomes for children worldwide.
Liz McLeod
2023-2026
Pediatric Surgeon | Australia
Shazia Peer
2025-2028
Pediatric Otolaryngologist | South Africa
Shazia is an Associate Professor in the Division of Otolaryngology, at the University of Cape Town, and is the Head of Paediatric Otolaryngology services at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. She heads the paediatric airway reconstructive surgery team, a multi-disciplinary group of sub-specialists committed to advancing paediatric airway management in sub-Saharan Africa. She is the program director of the first paediatric ENT fellowship in Sub Saharan Africa, now in its 7th year. Shazia is a leading voice and advocate for ENT-related conditions affecting African children. Shazia is also the chair of PENTAfrica (Paediatric ENT society in Africa).
Sabina Siddiqui
2022-2025
Pediatric Surgeon | USA
Dr. Siddiqui is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatric Surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Her research interests include the development of surgical technologies and the expansion of surgical technologies in resource limited settings. She has worked to expand access to laparoscopic surgery in Nicaragua and on capacity and service projects in Iraq, Palestine, Peru and Kenya.
Vinitha Priscilla Paul Ravindran
2024-2027
Pediatric Surgeon | Pakistan
Dr. Vinitha Ravindran is a professor at the College of Nursing, Christian Medical College, Vellore. She completed her Masters in Pediatric Nursing at CMC Vellore in 1993 and PhD in Nursing at the University Alberta, Canada in 2012.
Vinitha Ravindran, received the Genieve Gray Medal for outstanding performance in PhD in nursing and clinically based research from University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, and also is the recipient of Ruth E.McClure scholarship award for being the outstanding student in the graduate program in the Faculty of Nursing , University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
In her dual role in College of Nursing CMC Vellore she is also is a nurse manager in the pediatric surgical ward in the hospital. She has special interest in meeting the health needs of children who have sustained burns. Her PhD work was on exploring the needs of families of children who had sustained burns and has continued research on burns. Her interest is also in Qualitative research. She has completed one year training on Qualitative research course in Canada and has also completed a systematic review course in UK. She has a wide working experience in academia, clinical and research positions abroad.
Dr. Vinitha has served as a member of the Academic Borads of Nursing in the Tamil Nadu Dr MGr Medical University and the Kerala University, India and continues to be an expert member in PhD screening committee of the University. She is the secretary for the research and ethics committee of College of Nursing, CMC Vellore and is a PhD guide under the National PhD Consortium, Indian Nursing Council.
At her College she has held various posts and was the Deputy Dean of College of Nursing from 2014 to 2018. Currently she is the Dean of College of Nursing heading the Dept. of Continuing Nursing Education and Research at College of Nursing, CMC Vellore. She has been the executive editor and is now the editor-in-chief for the College owned journal “Indian Journal of Continuing Nursing Education” which is published by Wolters & Kluwer.
Udo Rolle
2022-2025
Pediatric Surgeon | Germany
Udo Rolle is a Professor of Pediatric Surgery and Surgeon in Chief of the Department of Pediatric Surgery and Pediatric Urology at the University Hospital Frankfurt/M., Germany.
His main interests are newborn surgery, pediatric urology, pediatric oncology, and global pediatric surgery.
He has published more than 150 scientific peer-reviewed articles.
Lubna Samad
2022-2025
Pediatric Surgeon | Pakistan
Dr. Lubna Samad is a pediatric surgeon based in Karachi, Pakistan, committed to improving patient outcomes with a specific focus on LMICs. She is the Director of Global Surgery Programs at IRD Global. She has led the development of Pakistan’s national surgical plan – “National Vision for Surgical Care 2020-25” – and has conducted the country’s first national surgical indicators survey. She has contributed to the surgical component of Pakistan’s Universal Health Coverage Benefits Packages. Dr. Samad is a member of the Global Surgery Foundation’s Leadership Team.
Nelci Zanon
2025-2028
Pediatric Neurosurgeon | Brazil
Dr. Nelci Zanon Collange is a dedicated neurosurgeon specializing in pediatric neurosurgery, committed to excellence in both clinical practice and leadership. She serves as Vice Chair of the Women in Neurosurgery Committee at the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS) and played a pivotal role in establishing the Women’s Department at the Brazilian Society of Neurosurgery (SBN). Actively engaged in advancing pediatric neurosurgery, she contributes to the Scientific Committee of the International Society of Pediatric Neurosurgery (ISPN) and leads the multidisciplinary team at CENEPE – Centro de Neurocirurgia Pediátrica in São Paulo, Brazil. In addition, she is the President of Neurokids, a nonprofit organization focused on rehabilitating children with neurological conditions and special needs.
Justina Seyi-Oljide
2022-2025
Pediatric Surgeon | Nigeria
Justina Seyi-Olajide is a Consultant Paediatric Surgeon at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria. She is passionate about access to surgical care for children in LMICs and Global Surgery in General. She is a member of the core committee that developed and is currently implementing Nigeria’s National Surgical Obstetric Anaesthesia and Nursing Plan.
Trainee Representative
Gabriella Hyman
Advisory Group
Hafeez Abdelhafeez
Emmanuel Ameh
Stephen Bickler
Faye Evans
Diana Farmer
Laura Goodman
Sarah Greenberg
Kokila Lakhoo
Vrisha Madhuri
Keith Oldham
Lawal-Aiyedun Olubunmi
Dan Poenaru
John Sekabira
Richard Stewart
