Wikipedia

Sema Sgaier

Sema K. Sgaier (born 1975) is an Arab American scientist, global health expert, and documentary photographer. She is the co-founder and CEO of Surgo Health, a health technology company developing a social-behavioral analytics platform to improve healthcare outcomes.[1] Sgaier’s expertise includes molecular biology, genetics, genomics, neuroscience, epidemiology, disease surveillance, monitoring & evaluation of programs and policy development.

Sema Sgaier
Born1975 (age 48–49)
Tripoli, Libya
Occupation(s)Scientist, Global Health expert, Documentary photographer

Sgaier was an assistant adjunct professor at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health[2] and an affiliate assistant professor of global health at the University of Washington.[3] While she was working for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation she and Mala Gaonkar co-founded the Surgo Foundation to better understand how data and behavior can influence public health outcomes.[4] In 2020, she and Gaonkar co-founded Surgo Ventures, leveraging artificial intelligence and behavioral science to solve global health problems.[5]

She was selected as a Rising Talent by the Women's Forum for the Economy & Society.[6] She is a Board Member of the United States of Care[7] and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Alumni Advisory Board.[8] She is also a frequent OpEd contributor to media outlets such as the New York Times,[9] USA Today,[10] and U.S. News & World Report.[11]

Early life

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Sgaier was born in 1975 in Tripoli, Libya to a Libyan father and Turkish mother. Sgaier studied molecular biology and genetics at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, Turkey, where she graduated with her Bachelor of Science in 2005, ranking first of her class. Sgaier later obtained her Masters in Art in neuroscience from Brown University in 1999 and Masters in Science and Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in cellular and molecular biology (Developmental Genetics) in 2005 from New York University. She conducted her postdoctoral training in human genomics in the lab of Dr. Christopher A. Walsh at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard Medical School.

Sgaier is the recipient of New York University, Brown University fellowships and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center fellowships.[citation needed]

Sgaier studied Documentary Photography at the International Center of Photography.[citation needed]

Career

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Sgaier was the first to fine tune and apply the technique of Genetic Inducible Fate Mapping (GIFM)[12] to understand how the complex 3D cerebellum develops from early-undifferentiated neuronal cells of the anterior hindbrain.[13] With Tim Yu and colleagues, she discovered that mutations in the gene WDR62 causes microcephaly.[14]

At the Center for Global Health Research, Sgaier designed and developed the Sample Registration Health Check-Up Survey to study the underlying risk factors of various diseases in India.[15] She has published on the epidemiology of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases.[16]

From 2008, Sema was a Program Officer with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She led a portfolio on voluntary medical male circumcision for HIV prevention across eastern and southern Africa. As part of BMGF’s India Country Office, Sema led the scale-up of the foundation’s HIV prevention program (Avahan) in several states, managed its transition to the government of India, and developed data platforms for decision-making. She worked closely with the Indian National AIDS Control Program to assist in the design of their program and strengthen their analytic efforts.[17]

She, Mala Gaonkar, and Malcolm Gladwell, co-founded the Surgo Foundation. They invested in public health projects, by listening to local needs.[4] She founded Surgo Health.[1]

Selected publications

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Articles (selected)

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Book chapters

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References

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  1. ^ a b Althouse, Michaela (March 2, 2023). "New DC startup Surgo Health is using data to help reach healthcare patients". technical.ly. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
  2. ^ "Sema Sgaier". www.hsph.harvard.edu. Archived from the original on November 6, 2021.
  3. ^ "Faculty and Staff/Sema Sgaier". globalhealth.washington.edu. University of Washington. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Comita, Jenny (May 24, 2017). "Meet Mala Gaonkar and Sema Sgaier, the Women Troubleshooting the World's Crises". W.
  5. ^ Parmar, Hema (January 3, 2023). "Hedge Fund Debuts in Biggest Launch Led by a Woman". www.bloomberg.com.
  6. ^ "Sema Sgaier, PhD". cdh.brown.edu.
  7. ^ "Board of Directors". unitedstatesofcare.org.
  8. ^ Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Profile (Report). D&B Hoovers. July 1, 2024. p. 7. ProQuest 1860787860.
  9. ^ Sgaier, Sema (November 17, 2021). "What We See in the Shameful Trends on U.S. Maternal Health". www.nytimes.com.
  10. ^ Etiebet, Mary-Ann; Sgaier, Sema (January 18, 2022). "America leads wealthy countries in maternal deaths. Our local data could change that". www.usatoday.com.
  11. ^ Sgaier, Sema (December 4, 2020). "Initial Vaccine Distribution Plan Has Winners and Losers Among States. Our local data could change that". www.usnews.com.
  12. ^ Joyner, Alexandra L.; Zervas, Mark (2006). "Genetic inducible fate mapping in mouse: Establishing genetic lineages and defining genetic neuroanatomy in the nervous system". Developmental Dynamics. 235 (9): 2376–85. doi:10.1002/dvdy.20884. PMID 16871622. S2CID 24550187.
  13. ^ Sgaier, Sema K.; Millet, Sandrine; Villanueva, Melissa P.; Berenshteyn, Frada; Song, Christian; Joyner, Alexandra L. (2005). "Morphogenetic and Cellular Movements that Shape the Mouse Cerebellum". Neuron. 45 (1): 27–40. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2004.12.021. PMID 15629700. S2CID 17199408.
  14. ^ Yu, Timothy W; Mochida, Ganeshwaran H; Tischfield, David J; Sgaier, Sema K; Flores-Sarnat, Laura; Sergi, Consolato M; Topçu, Meral; McDonald, Marie T; et al. (2010). "Mutations in WDR62, encoding a centrosome-associated protein, cause microcephaly with simplified gyri and abnormal cortical architecture". Nature Genetics. 42 (11): 1015–20. doi:10.1038/ng.683. PMC 2969850. PMID 20890278.
  15. ^ Sgaier, Sema (November 16, 2007). "Public health. Biobanks in developing countries: needs and feasibility". Science (journal). 318 (5853): 1074–1075. doi:10.1126/science.1149157. PMID 18006727. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  16. ^ Arora, Paul; Nagelkerke, Nico; Sgaier, Sema; Kumar, Rajesh; Dhingra, Neeraj; Jha, Prabhat (August 24, 2011). "HIV, HSV-2 and syphilis among married couples in India: patterns of discordance and concordance". Sexually Transmitted Infections. 89 (678). doi:10.1136/sextrans-2011-050203corr1. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  17. ^ "Home". www.iasociety.org. Retrieved 2017-11-16.
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