Indigenous and Global Surgery Group

A network of surgeons scattered across the globe can make a big impact in the lives of people living in remote and low-resource settings. It is important that the breakthroughs in surgical research and practice are made available to all. The STaR Centre’s Indigenous and Global Surgery Group spearheads our aspiration to bring surgical training and tools into under-served communities where-ever they may be. So far, our work has concentrated in Nepal, Vanuatu, Samoa and more recently right here in Aotearoa New Zealand.  

Professor Ian Bissett is the Director of the Indigenous and Global Surgery Group.  Ian has been visiting Nepal to operate and teach for over twenty years. Read more Pilgrimage to the Himalayas

Mr Fred Astle was appointed as a STaR Centre Director in 2018.  His input shapes our research from inception to help meet the needs and aspirations of Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand.  He enables collaboration, culturally respectful programmes, health equity, and workforce development. Ian and Fred are currently working in partnership with the Ngati Whatua iwi (tribe) to develop educative programs and prospective studies into bowel cancer and continence.

Recent international initiatives include:

• Defining barriers to access to surgery in the Vanuatu and Samoa Islands
• Conducting community surgical camps in remote Nepal
• Educational foundation teaching on treatment of pancreatic diseases in Asia
• Research methodology teaching for health professionals in Nepal and Vanuatu

Graduates and collaborators actively contributing to global health outside New Zealand include the following:

• Dr Anna Dare, University of Toronto
• Dr Basil Leodoro, Northern Provincial Hospital, Vanuatu
• Dr Will Perry, Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN
• Dr Avinash Sharma, Nigeria and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, New York
• Dr Stephen Young, Middlemore Hospital, Counties Manukau, Auckland