Dr Pieternella Pieterse, IGS Research Fellow, spoke to the SL MoH and WHO in Freetown, Sierra Leone on a research project, examining the impact of high numbers of unsalaried health workers being deployed in public sector health facilities in Sierra Leone. 📽️👉 tinyurl.com/3a3haz8y @rcsi.bsky.social

The RCSI/COSECSA Collaboration Programme team are in Arusha this week to discuss future projects, also travelling to Muhimbili National Hospital on an accreditation visit. tinyurl.com/y6p5yc9j The Collaboration Programme is supported by Irish Aid.☘️ #globalsurgery #COSECSA @rcsi.bsky.social

Prof Kevin McGuigan, Director of the RCSI Solar Disinfection Research Group, gave a fantastic overview of the SURG-Water project in a great interview at LMFM. Don't miss it 👉 tinyurl.com/4sjxmbae #globalsurgery @rcsi.bsky.social @rcsipophealth.bsky.social @researchireland.ie

The IGS & Universidad Rafael Landívar Team is in the field exploring access and quality of water in rural Guatemala and impact on health! This project is supported by @researchireland.ie👍 #globalsurgery #ResearchIreland @rcsi.bsky.social @rcsipophealth.bsky.social

Well done presenters! #RCSIResearchDay Shaimaa Abuhaimed "Expanding access to clean water at rural maternal health centres in Malawi through innovation: bridging needs and acceptability." Kaja Czwojda "Sustainable Surgical Managed Consultation Network in Low-Income Settings: Evidence From Malawi."

Just published this week, in the WJoS, the collaborative #RCSI & #COSECSA paper, "Operating Together: Challenges and Solutions for Sustaining Impactful Global Health Partnerships From 18 years of the RCSI/COSECSA Surgical Training Collaboration." Read here: tinyurl.com/mpdkcv27 @rcsi.bsky.social

Attention all ST3-8 RCSI surgical trainees! We are accepting applications for The Atlantic Surgical Leadership Exchange Programme 2026/27! Be a part of this exciting programme between Hanoi Medical University - Vietnam & RCSI. To apply visit tinyurl.com/34ukbrah #globalsurgery @rcsi.bsky.social

Have you heard of #amapiano? Zeze Kingston, a renowned Malawian #amapiano artist, has written a song for the #SURGWater project. But why? And, most importantly, is it cool? Can I dance to it? Find out on the new episode of Be Water! tinyurl.com/nzv9mpxc @rcsi.bsky.social @researchireland.ie

As the week comes to a close we would like to thank our Colombian colleagues from Universidad ICESI for spending this time with us in Dublin! It's been a pleasure to host them and thank you to all the RCSI faculty who have assisted us! Thank you #Erasmusplus for your support! @rcsi.bsky.social

We were delighted to meet with Dr John Meara as he and his wife Ann dropped in to pay a visit to the IGS & Stellenbosch University teams, in RCSI 118 St Stephens Green! #globalsurgery #Erasmusplus @rcsi.bsky.social @rcsipophealth.bsky.social @harvard.edu @bostonchildrens.bsky.social @ec.europa.eu

The IGS/SPH research seminar took place yesterday in 118 SSG & online, where Prof Maria Fernanda Escobar Vidarte and Dr Maria Isabel Irurita presented the amazing ongoing work of Hospital Padrino! Watch back here👉 tinyurl.com/3p7yndhv #globalsurgery @rcsi.bsky.social @rcsipophealth.bsky.social

The IGS are delighted to receive our amazing Colombian colleagues from Universidad ICESI to RCSI this week as part of our ongoing Erasmus+ collaboration between our universities! A huge thank you to @euerasmusplus.bsky.social for their support with this knowledge exchange! @rcsi.bsky.social

We have commenced the 5 day course, 'Essential Research Skills: A Global Surgery Perspective', in which students will learn about global surgery research from lecturers at RCSI & Stellenbosch. Thank you to #erasmusplus for their support! #globalsurgery @rcsi.bsky.social @suhealthsci.bsky.social

On 19th Feb 2026 at 1pm, join the IGHN for the official webinar launch of the IGHNxEU 2025 Policy Brief and the Dublin Declaration: two key outputs calling for stronger, more inclusive EU action on women’s health and rights. 👉 tinyurl.com/cyuxr3md @rcsi.bsky.social @rcsipophealth.bsky.social

Congratulations Dr Lijalem T. Garba, Cardiothoracic Surgeon-Kenya, the top #COSECSA Candidate of 2025 who was awarded the Prof Gerald O’Sullivan medal at #RCSICharter, presented to Dr Garba by RCSI President Prof Deborah McNamara, COSECSA President Prof Laston Chikoya & Prof O'Sullivan's wife Breda.

Dr Kuba Gajewski & Dr Chiara Pittalis are meeting with colleagues today at the Health Systems Collaborative, University of Oxford where Kuba has just presented on our work. #SURGWater #globalsurgery 👉 surgwater.ie @rcsi.bsky.social @researchireland.ie @rcsipophealth.bsky.social @ox.ac.uk

Dr Ines Perić had the privilege of meeting with two past Presidents of the West African College of Surgeons #WACS, Prof King David Terna Yawe & Prof Emmanuel Ezeome, who both moderated the #SURGhub session today. #globalsurgery @rcsi.bsky.social @rcsipophealth.bsky.social @ines-peric.bsky.social

At RCSI Charter, Feb 12th 3.50pm, Dr Dan Murray will speak on his experience in the Atlantic Surgical Leadership Exchange Programme between RCSI & HMU, with, "The RCSI Atlantic Surgical Leadership Exchange – A Neurosurgery Trainee’s Perspective." Register 👉 tinyurl.com/2jnz8hde @rcsi.bsky.social

Tomorrow Feb 11th, 11.30am & 2.30pm, at the 66th #WACS Conference in Ghana, Dr Ines Perić - IGS Education Project Manager, will present on PAPSEP, SURGhub, Surgical Foundations & AI -Assisted Translation of E - Learning Courses. Stay tuned for more updates! #globalsurgery @rcsi.bsky.social

'Tales and evidence of social innovation: how Hospital Padrino is changing the maternal and neonatal landscape in southwestern Colombia' is an RCSI IGS/School of Population Health hybrid research seminar taking place on 11am, Tuesday 17 Feb in RCSI & on MS Teams Register & info tinyurl.com/v92ee6cu

Welcome to our first IGS Newsletter of 2026! We've been incredibly busy over the last few months and we hope you enjoy catching up on all our news! Subscribe on LinkedIn below: 👉 tinyurl.com/34awwrv3 #globalsurgery @rcsi.bsky.social @rcsipophealth.bsky.social

We are very grateful to Kenyatta University & Incoming Acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof. John Okumu for their amazing hospitality as the IGS visited Nairobi for our ongoing Erasmus+ collaboration! Thank you ​#Erasmusplus for support with this knowledge exchange! #globalsurgery @rcsi.bsky.social

The IGS are delighted to be in Nairobi with our amazing colleagues in Kenyatta University for our ongoing Erasmus+ collaboration! A huge thank you to ​#ErasmusPlus for their support with this knowledge exchange! #globalsurgery @rcsi.bsky.social @rcsipophealth.bsky.social @euerasmusplus.bsky.social

Help shape the future of global surgical training! We need input from surgical teams to ensure SURGhub meets real needs in real settings. Highlight training gaps and request topics here: 👉 www.surghub.org/blog/surghub... @rcsiglobalsurgery.bsky.social

We're back with #MeetTheTeam, and today it's the turn of our hygiene expert, Shadrick Masulani. He's good with research and numbers and a great asset to the team. And on top of all of this, he is also very photogenic! 😎 @researchireland.ie @rcsiglobalsurgery.bsky.social @jointsdgfund.bsky.social

As part of ongoing efforts to improve our SODIS water system, we have installed reusable water filters at both Thekerani and Chimvu. Now, neither algae nor sediment can pass through the filter. What's more, they are locally available! #localising @researchireland.ie @rcsiglobalsurgery.bsky.social

Season's Greetings from the IGS team!🎅 We want to thank all of our partners, collaborators & friends who have made 2025 such an impactful year for the IGS. We look forward to 2026 as we work to improve access to high-quality, essential surgical care for underserved populations. www.humanarium.ie

Keep up to date with everything IGS, on our news, events, projects, publications and more...from anywhere in the 🌍 Join our mailing list today 👉 tinyurl.com/ya3tmx3j #globalsurgery #RCSIengage @rcsi.bsky.social @rcsipophealth.bsky.social

Mr Jeremiah Jumbe, Malawi Member of Parliament & Member of its Health Committee, joined our #Akazi community awareness meeting today at Soche Maternity in Blantyre. It's encouraging that the government is showing its support for the project by participating in project activities. @researchireland.ie

SURGhub, led by Global Surgery Foundation and UNITAR with support from RCSI and J&J Foundation, has won the QS Reimagine Education Award 2025 for Best E-Learning Project, recognising its innovative approach to expanding global surgical education. RCSI news story tinyurl.com/hf3f5vu7 #globalsurgery

Today, the team visited the Kanyezi Health Centre in Dedza to check the area where the new water system with a 100% Malawian-made calabash tank will be installed #localising @researchireland.ie @rcsipophealth.bsky.social @rcsiglobalsurgery.bsky.social @jointsdgfund.bsky.social

#Akazi has provided 15 Malawian healthcare workers with breast health training for the first time in their careers. 45 workers from 8 different health centres received training this year, considerably helping efforts to identify breast cancer & reduce diagnosis times. Pic: Antonio Jaén Osuna

In case you missed it, @abigailruthfreeman.bsky.social talked about our project at @siliconrepublic.bsky.social You can read the piece here: www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/r... @researchireland.ie @rcsipophealth.bsky.social @rcsiglobalsurgery.bsky.social

Learn more about our project! @researchireland.ie @rcsipophealth.bsky.social @rcsiglobalsurgery.bsky.social @unep.org

We are preparing for the construction of the first reactor to be built in #Malawi. The Irish team will travel to the health centre where the reactor will be installed. This is a significant step forward in #localising our SODIS system. @researchireland.ie @rcsiglobalsurgery.bsky.social

Our very own Dr Emanuela Parotto, IGS PhD Scholar, presented her poster today at the #CANECSA conference in Mombasa, titled, "From Education to Professional Identity (PI): - Becoming an Anaesthesia Provider (AP) in Malawi." canecsa.org #globalsurgery @rcsi.bsky.social @rcsipophealth.bsky.social

Dr. Ruth Freeman, @researchireland.ie Director of Research for Society, highlights the amazing achievements of SDG Challenge teams in a recent @siliconrepublic.bsky.social piece by Colin Ryan. @surg-water.bsky.social highlighted as a project people in Ireland can be proud of! tinyurl.com/5eu2dfys

The 18th European Public Health Conference 2025 in Helsinki is well underway today, and a very welcome visitor has dropped in to all the (very) good academics and researchers. Only at an academic conference in Finland!! #globalsurgery #EPH2025 @rcsi.bsky.social @rcsipophealth.bsky.social

Eric O'Flynn, IGS Programme Director (Education, Training and Advocacy), outlines in this Medical Independent piece, how Irish doctors are supporting health workforce training in low-resource settings globally. 👉 tinyurl.com/39s63w3e #globalsurgery @rcsi.bsky.social @rcsipophealth.bsky.social

Bringing together high-quality online medical education content from multiple institutions on trusted open-access platforms has the potential to transform medical education in low-resource contexts. This review offers evidence-based insight on building such compilations mededu.jmir.org/2025/1/e65306

Researchers at SPH have been awarded funding to investigate the impact of climate change on water access & maternal health in rural Guatemala. Led by our own Dr Chiara Pittalis the project has received €100k through Irish Aid's Ireland-Central America Joint Research Initiative. tinyurl.com/236xacm2

We are delighted to welcome Husam Hamouda to the RCSI Institute of Global Surgery Team! Husam is a Master of Surgery by Research student, joining us from Gaza. His focus is on, "Adapting to surgical infrastructure gaps in a conflict setting: a case study of water shortages in hospitals in Gaza."

We've created a starter pack of our faculty, researchers, team members and centres on Bluesky. Click here to view these accounts: bsky.app/starter-pack...

Thanks to #Akazi 30 Malawian healthcare workers have received breast health training for the first time in their careers, enabling them to identify women with potential breast cancer at the earliest possible stage, reducing the time for diagnosis & ensuring they are on the care pathway without delay

- Five new health centres - 30 health care providers trained in breast health - Community awareness with more than 200 community leaders #Akazi is back! Pic-Antonio Jaén Osuna #BreastHealthDay #globalsurgery @rcsi.bsky.social @rcsipophealth.bsky.social @researchireland.ie @europadonna.bsky.social

We’re bringing together clinicians from Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital who work along the breast cancer care pathway — to identify how this journey can be made better for every patient. #BreastCancerAwareness #malawidecides2025 @rcsi.bsky.social @rcsipophealth.bsky.social @researchireland.ie

Méabh Hennelly, IGS Education Programme Officer, with student partners, Tom Kehoe, Emily Hamilton & Karim Fouad presented their @rcsi.bsky.social Student Engagement and Partnership (StEP) funded research, 'Global Paediatric Surgery E-Learning Translation Project,' at the StEP ceremony last week! 👍👏

Another milestone for Malawi as the Ministry of Health announces the country’s first Breast Health Guidelines, launching early 2026. Through #Akazi we’re proud to support this important step forward during #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth, strengthening the fight against breast cancer @researchireland.ie

Congratulations to Professor Cathal Kelly, Vice Chancellor, CEO and Registrar of RCSI, who has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), one of the highest distinctions in international surgery. 🔗 www.rcsi.com/dublin/news-... #ACSCongress2025

In September alone the 25,000+ enrolled learners on #SURGhub spent the equivalent of 5 years on the platform. This is perioperative education collaboration on a global scale. Explore 100+ courses www.surghub.org #globalsurgery @rcsi.bsky.social @surgfoundation.bsky.social @unitar.bsky.social J&J