Joseph V. Sakran, MD, MPH is an Assistant Professor of Surgery and Director of Global Health and Disaster Preparedness at the Medical University of South Carolina. As an Acute Care Surgeon, Joe spends most of his time caring for the critically ill and injured patients. His research interests are in biomarkers for sepsis, trauma system development, public policy, and the advancement of surgery within resource poor settings. His interest in medicine stems partly from having nearly lost his life after a gunshot wound to the throat during his senior year of high school. Joe has been dedicated to providing community outreach long before going to medical school. While completing his undergraduate degree at George Mason University, Joe trained as a medic and firefighter where he typically spent a significant amount of time volunteering at the City of Fairfax Fire and Rescue Department. His interest in global health began early on when he decided to attend The Medical School for International Health, a collaboration between Ben-Gurion and Columbia University. Joe subsequently integrated his medical studies with public health when he attended the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he completed a Masters in Public Health within the global health track. After completing a diverse and comprehensive general surgery residency at Inova Fairfax Hospital, he joined the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where he completed a fellowship in Traumatology, Surgical Critical Care, and Emergency General Surgery.
During his surgical residency, Dr. Sakran Co-founded a nonprofit organization called Surgeons for Global Health (SGH) that is tailored towards addressing the surgical burden of disease in low and middle-income countries (LMIC). The aim has been to provide long-term sustainable interventions in order to reduce the global burden of surgical disease. Joe has delivered care and sustainable solutions throughout numerous countries in India, the Middle East, and Africa. He has responded to a number of international disasters including the Asian Tsunami in 2004, and the Haitian Earthquake in 2010. Dr. Sakran has been actively involved in the American College of Surgeons, and is currently the incoming Chair of the Resident and Associate Society (RAS). At the present time, Dr. Sakran is spending a year at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) of Government where he is developing a unique skill-set focused on economics, public policy, and leadership development with a specific focus in underserved and minority populations.