We are a small team of medical students from across the UK who are passionate about Global Surgery.
2019-2020 Committee
Soham Bandyopadhay
President
Soham is a final year medical student at the University of Oxford. As the Chair of InciSioN UK, he is responsible for leading a group of highly motivated individuals who are passionate about tackling healthcare challenges and achieving health equity. A high priority challenge in medicine is to provide essential surgical and anaesthesia services to all people worldwide. Although it is known that surgical care is an integral component of healthcare that saves lives, the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery estimates that 5 billion people worldwide lack access to safe, affordable surgical and anaesthesia care when needed. InciSioN aims to equip students with the skills to tackle this issue as they progress through their career.
Riya Sawhney
Vice Chair
Riya is a final year medical student at the University of Leeds, with a keen interest in global surgery. She feels honoured to be a part of the InciSioN UK committee. Being an international student from India studying in the UK provided her with a unique world-view, which allows her to understand the challenges of both HIC and LMIC healthcare systems, and makes her a passionate advocate for change. As Vice-President for InciSioN UK this year, she hopes to further increase awareness of inequities in surgical care, as well as increase engagement of students across the UK, advocating for frugal innovations and simple interventions with high returns.
Priya Sekhon
Secretary
Priya is a final year medical student at King’s College London. As an aspiring surgeon with an interest in academia, she believes that everyone has a right to safe and accessible healthcare. Working alongside the Incision UK committee as Secretary, she aims to promote awareness of how future clinicians can aid to relinquish the barriers faced in Global Surgery.
Natasha Douglas
Communications Lead (Twitter and Instagram)
Natasha is a third-year medical student at Queen’s University Belfast and is one of the communication leads for this year. She did an intercalated degree in International Health which introduced her to the world of global surgery. She feels that topics such as global health and global surgery are not taught in medical school, and so many people are not aware of these issues. She looks forward to working with the InciSioN UK team this year and hopes to increase engagement with global surgery among medical students.
Katya Marks
Communications Lead (Website & Blog)
Katya is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Oxford. She is one of the communications leads for this year. As an aspiring surgeon, she has become increasingly conscious of the extent of global inequity in surgical care. Having noticed a lack of central teaching on global surgery by medical schools, she is committed to raising awareness about this important field. Her further areas of interest include neurosurgery and women's health. She looks forward to working with such a passionate group of people at InciSioN UK.
Won Young Yoon
Communications Lead (Facebook)
Won Young is a second-year medical student at the University of Manchester and is one of the Communication Leads for this year. He is from South Korea but has lived in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore. He is interested in Global Surgery and hopes to collaborate with students from various interdisciplinary fields including medicine, engineering and biotechnology to find solutions for the global burden of surgical diseases. He looks forward to working with the InciSioN UK team throughout the year.
Ines Ongenda
Project Lead (Podcast & Education)
Ines is a first-year medical student at the University of Exeter and is one of the Project Leads. She graduated with a BSc in Biomedicine at Lancaster University and MSc in Global Health & Development at University College London. As a Burundian-Congolese, she knows intimately the consequences of the inability to access sage, affordable and timely surgery. As an aspiring surgeon with a strong interest in Women's Health and Ethics, she looks forward to working with the entire team at InciSion UK and beyond to continue to tackle the inequities and inequalities in Global Surgical Care.
Michal Kawka
Project Lead (Research)
Michal is a third-year medical student at Imperial College London, and is one of the Project Leads. He believes that Global Surgery is key for achieving universal healthcare, and unfortunately, it is a topic which is not given enough attention. As an aspiring surgeon and academic, he would like to work in the field of global surgery in the future to ensure that surgical innovation, novel surgical solutions and evidence-based surgical practice are available to everybody so that the existing inequalities can be reduced. He looks forward to working as a part of this year’s InciSioN UK committee to raise awareness of global surgery among medical student and medical professional communities.
Beryl Sawyerr
Project Lead (Advocacy)
Beryl is a final year medical student at the University of Birmingham. She believes that safe, adequate surgical and anaesthetic care is essential to achieving healthcare outcomes in all communities. A career in global surgery combines her aspirations to a surgical career with her enthusiasm for global impact through policy and international collaboration. With interests at the intersection of surgery and technology, she is keen to develop the skills necessary to make a meaningful impact through research, education and advocacy. She looks forward to serving as one of the project leads for this year’s committee, building on the work of last year’s success.
Saud Alfadhel
Project Lead (Research)
Saud is a final year medical student at the University of Glasgow and is one of the Project Leads for this year. As a medical student and an aspiring surgeon, he is very excited on taking up the challenge to empower students from across the country to participate in high-quality research projects that will advance the field of global surgery and promote evidence-based surgical practice. He looks forward to working with the rest of the new committee to build on the success of last year’s project and to create more exciting opportunities for interested students around the UK.
Sanskriti Sravanam
InciSioN UK Network Lead
Sanskrithi is a final year medical student at the University of Oxford. She will be serving as the InciSion UK Network Lead for 2019-20. She believes that in order to help provide equal access to healthcare, we must understand the priorities, root causes, and the magnitude of health disparities before forging innovative solutions. She looks forward to bringing together like-minded, passionate individuals from all across the country to work on InciSioN UK’s research, education and advocacy programmes to bring focus to evidence-based global surgery.
Vigneshwar Raj Veerappan
LifeBox-SfGH Rep Scheme Coordinator (Communications)
Vigneshwar is a third-year medical student at the Hull York Medical School and is the Communications Coordinator for the Lifebox-SfGH Rep Scheme. As an aspiring academic with interest in surgery, the term global surgery immediately resonated with him. He is an international student from India and having witnessed first-hand health inequalities in different parts of the world, he found himself in a position of privilege feeling responsible for contributing to better health for the world in whatever way he can. He hopes that through the InciSioN UK committee, he will be able to make a change and work alongside amazing people.
​Azeem Kapasi
LifeBox-SfGH Rep Scheme Coordinator (Operations)
Azeem is a fourth-year at the University of Manchester and is the Operations Coordinators for the Lifebox-SfGH Rep Scheme. He developed an interest in vascular surgery during his placement in third-year. He has a massive passion for charity work as he feels this is one of the best methods to deliver aid fast. He looks forward to working with the InciSioN UK committee.
Ben Walker
LifeBox-SfGH Rep Scheme Coordinator (Events)
Ben is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Oxford and is the Events Coordinator for the Lifebox-SfGH Rep Scheme for this year. He has a desire to build an impactful and exciting career at the intersection of global health, surgery, policy and innovation. He looks forward to working with the InciSioN UK committee, and as part of the wider Global Surgery ecosystem at such a pivotal time in the field. He believes the leadership and passion of medical students is crucial for building the dynamic surgical workforce of tomorrow.
Hannah Thomas
Past president
Access to safe surgical care is essential in order to address the rise of NCDs around the world. As a future academic surgeon, it is impossible to ignore the inequities in surgical care that persist today. InciSioN UK is a strong front of motivated individuals with a palpable passion for change. I feel proud to be a part of this group.
