Women in Surgical Research Grant “WiSURG”: Supporting Female Surgeons and Trainees to Conduct Impactful Research in the ECSA Region
2025 WiSURG Grant
WISA, RCSI, COSECSA and J&J Foundation
Background
The WiSURG programme is a collaborative effort aimed at fostering increased participation of female surgeons and surgical trainees in high quality clinical research in the East, Central and Southern African (ECSA) region. While female enrolment to the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA) has increased, there remains a need to continue to encourage greater female choice of surgery as a career, greater female representation in surgical leadership and increased participation of female surgeons in research activities. Authorship in the “global surgery” literature is predominantly male worldwide, but this disparity is significantly more pronounced in low- and middle-income countries (Ravi et al., 2021). Ultimately, the development of the next generation of female leaders in surgical research and practice in the COSECSA region will contribute towards building an expanded, enhanced surgical workforce providing more high-quality surgical care for populations in East, Central and Southern Africa. There is also a great need for translation of clinical data into sound research that will subsequently inform local and regional policy with regards to safe and sustainable surgery in the ECSA region. Women in Surgery Africa (WiSA) is deeply committed to supporting women to conduct quality, impactful surgical research (Odera, Tierney, Mangaoang, Mugwe, & Sanfey, 2019). The long-term goal of WiSURG is to provide a framework for emerging and mid-career female surgical researchers to produce high-quality research, supported by grant funding, research methodology training, supervision and mentorship. Ultimately the research produced will benefit the surgical patient in ECSA region.
WiSA operates under the auspices of COSECSA. COSECSA recognises the importance of supporting female trainees, Members and Fellows and has been a long term advocate for women surgeons. COSECSA has worked in close collaboration with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) since 2007. WiSA has been supported by the RCSI/COSECSA Collaboration from its conception to date.
The overall objective is to foster the development of the next generation of female leaders in surgical research and practice in the COSECSA region.