Just back from Bolivia at the Bolivian Neurosurgical Society 50th Anniversary Congress with Solidarity Bridge NNI and UW-Madison, Dr Richard Moser took some time to talk to the InterSurgeon team about Solidarity Bridge and their work in South America ahead of a mission trip to the Oncological Institute of Eastern Bolivia in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, on March 14-23, 2025.
Global Surgery and Solidarity Bridge
Dr Moser is a neurosurgeon from the Chicago area working at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School in The United States. In 2001, a nurse practitioner colleague had returned from a mission to South America and tried to convince Dr Moser to go on a trip: “I thought but why do neurosurgery in LMICs with limited resources? I viewed it as a rich country discipline… eventually she convinced me and I went to a children’s hospital in Le Paz. That was my epiphany and [I saw] the need for neurosurgery exists even in an economically limited resource setting.”
Fast forward to 2024, Dr Moser has now created and leads the NNI (Neurosurgery and Neurology Institute) within Solidarity Bridge. In conjunction with the University of Wisconsin, Department of Neurosurgery, he has been in Bolivia focussing on paediatric endoscopic neurosurgery for 3 days and honoured at their 50thAnniversary Congress. He has been heavily involved in expanding participation in the NNI in the United States from “East coast to West coast” to facilitate the expansion of resident education and clinical excellence in both Bolivia and Paraguay. “ [We have a] tremendous audience out there and are open to all communities of surgery. One example was our director of neuroanaesthesia organised a virtual day of an update of neuroanaesthesia when over 1000 people signed up so we had to keep enlarging the zoom. There are people who want to take advantage of opportunities that are offered. [The global surgical community] has to realise how many people are interested in knowledge.”
Paraguay
In addition to Bolivia, Dr Moser has worked for many years in Paraguay with colleagues from the Itaugua National Hospital near the capital of Asunción. It all started 6 years ago; “I went with [Solidarity Bridge founder] Juan Lorenzo Hinojosa for an initial meeting. I was brought there for many reasons including cardiac surgery. We presented at their congress in 2018 where I connected with people including head of the department of neurosurgery at the National Hospital, Dr Jose Kuzli [Director of the Neurological Service at the Hospital Nacional de Itauguá and President of the Paraguayan Neurosurgical Society]. They were looking to develop surgical skills at their hospitals and found AVM surgery lacking so we focussed on that. Successful surgery, at that level, does not just rely on the surgeon but also neuroanaesthesia and neuro-critical care.” 3 years ago, Dr Moser and the NNI brought on board a cerebral vascular surgical expert from Boston to teach AVM surgery in Paraguay. The course lasted 3 years and was finished in April of this year (2024) and “We achieved our goal with complex AVM surgery being performed.” Between annual visits, they have monthly meetings to maintain engagement with the neurosurgery department at the National Hospital.
In addition, Dr Moser provided a pivotal role in forming a national stroke program in Paraguay by developing an initiative to create legislation at the government level; “We developed a ground swell interest from academics to the church. Even civil societies and the US government, USA aid, the peace corps, and DOD got involved to move this forward.”
InterSurgeon
As a friend of InterSurgeon founder, Mr William Harkness, Dr Moser has been interested in InterSurgeon from the beginning; “[I] advocate the purpose of InterSurgeon. Global surgery needs a dating service.”
At the moment, Solidarity Bridge is also preparing for an Oncological Surgery Mission Trip to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, in March 2025. Jodi Grahl, Director of the General, Gynecologic and Heart Surgery Programs at Solidarity Bridge, is seeking an ENT with expertise in the surgical treatment of thyroid cancer as well as oral, larynx, and/or parotid gland cancers, to join a team at the Oncological Institute of Eastern Bolivia. “The Oncological Institute is Bolivia’s first and foremost public hospital dedicated exclusively to cancer for low-income patients from across the country. We have been partnering with the Institute since 2018. Our work to date has focused on hepatobiliary and some gynae oncology, but this year they have requested training and patient care support in the field of head and neck cancers.”
If you or anyone you know may be interested, you can contact Solidarity Bridge on their If you or anyone you know may be interested, you can contact solidarity bridge on their InterSurgeon profile HERE
We have also posted about this mission on our LinkedIn page, click here to see the post.
