AMPATH Global Gathering Unites Medical Professionals from Three Continents

An extraordinary meeting of medical minds came to The University of Texas at Austin campus in September 2025: Health professionals, faculty and students from UT’s Dell Medical School seized a rare opportunity to connect face-to-face with colleagues from Ghana, Kenya, Mexico, and Nepal.  

The AMPATH Global Gathering brought together international partners from the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) Consortium — a dynamic, transnational network of 16 universities that UT Austin proudly joined in 2018.  

With the intent of fostering long-term, equitable collaborations in health care, medical professionals at AMPATH partners’ sites share training, knowledge and resources, striving toward a common objective of strengthening health systems and ensuring accessible, quality health care for millions of people across the globe. Shared trust, humility and commitment across borders have enabled the organization to address some of the world’s most urgent health challenges.  

Facilitated on campus by Dell Medical School's Division of Global Health with Texas Global, the gathering radiated conviviality and care. Far-flung colleagues and reunited friends eagerly discussed new initiatives, the conversations illustrating their shared commitment to providing community medical care through worldwide teamwork.  

Tim Mercer, chief of the Division of Global Health, summed up the collective consensus, saying, “I think AMPATH has taught us to dare to dream and to hope — and to lead with that. It has taught us the power of partnership and building counterpart relationships in global health.” 

Gathering Globally to Heal Locally 

“AMPATH has always been about more than delivering care,” said Adrian Gardner, executive director of the AMPATH Consortium and director of the IU Center for Global Health. “It’s about building something bigger than any one institution — a partnership that can transform health systems and change lives around the world.” 

The three-day agenda packed in strategic work sessions, practical trainings and discussions focused on critical topics such as climate-resilient health systems, research infrastructure, AI and innovation, multilateral exchange and more. Attendees also toured the Forty Acres, including Dell Medical School.  

During remarks at a celebration dinner, Claudia Lucchinetti, dean of the Dell Medical School and UT Austin’s senior vice president for medical affairs, expressed gratitude for being surrounded by so many passionate leaders in the field.  

“Our global health partnerships include over 40 active UT Austin faculty and span 10 colleges, schools and units across this University,” said Lucchinetti. “Our collaborative efforts span continents and disciplines. By leveraging these diverse strengths, we enrich our academic environment, drive innovation and create opportunities for shared learning.” 

Lucchinetti highlighted UT’s connections with longtime Mexican affiliate Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP) in the study and practice of medicine, nursing, educational psychology, psychiatry and computational sciences. She lauded the many joint projects and exchanges that continue to advance their shared objectives of community health transformation.  

She also cited teamwork with AMPATH Kenya, building capacity in cardiothoracic surgery, neurology, palliative care, pediatrics and nursing. Through bidirectional knowledge-sharing via student and resident exchanges, the collaborators strengthen health systems by advancing research, education and care.  

“What you are all doing across the world is life-changing," said Lucchinetti. “May our conversations tonight inspire new ideas and deepen our steadfast commitment to improving global health through partnership, service, innovation and collaboration.”  

The dinner also featured storytelling conversations between international colleagues, including Rebecca Cook, Dell Med’s clinical faculty leader for Mexico, alongside her former student mentee at BUAP, Lizbeth Vargas. And Mercer reminisced with Jamil Said, Moi University’s first fellowship-trained neurologist, both focusing their conversation on the perspective they gained during their AMPATH training. 

“It was incredibly transformative,” recalled Mercer. “I feel like that's where I really learned where health and disease come from, and why some people get sick and some people don't, and some people can get care and some people can't,” Mercer said. 

“It was transformative for me, as well,” Said agreed. “I think the opportunity to see patients outside hospital roles [and] give context to patients’ lives is the most important thing. It gives you the opportunity to look at patients as individuals and have that community center [for] defining problems and resolving problems.” 

Compassion, Alliance, Shared Purpose 

“Each of you here today is a vital partner for this work,” UT’s Senior Vice Provost for Global Engagement Sonia Feigenbaum said in a welcome address. “Your presence and partnership inspire us to reach further, think deeper and lead with heart.”   

Texas Global has supported UT Austin's involvement with AMPATH since the partnership's inception, offering foundational support and cultivating the alliance between the University, the AMPATH Consortium, and their global partners.  

“The blueprint for the AMPATH/MAPAS Mexico partnership and health outreach in Puebla originated in 2019, funded by our signature multidisciplinary initiative, the President's Award for Global Learning,” said Feigenbaum, also citing a course on migrant health offered jointly to medical students at UT and BUAP.  

Texas Global also supported the gathering via its Campus Internationalization Event Fund, which fosters cross-institutional international engagement activities on UT's campus.  

“During globally turbulent times, cross-border collaborations aimed at advancing human and planetary health are essential,” Feigenbaum said. “Together, we are cultivating a future defined by compassion, alliance and shared purpose.” 

AMPATH Initiatives Across the Globe 

The many topics of care covered at the gathering often echoed those reported upon in the 2024-2025 Impact Report from AMPATH Global as well as the inaugural Impact Report from the Dell Med Division of Global Health, ranging from pediatric emergency readiness to cardiac surgery and well beyond. 

AMPATH Global: Noncommunicable Diseases 

AMPATH Global launched a multicountry initiative targeting noncommunicable diseases, such as hypertension and diabetes, in nations with strained public health systems, including Ghana, Kenya and Nepal. Anticipated to educate nearly 4 million people, screen 165,000 and link nearly 60,000 of those to care, the program also aims to train more than 1,200 health care workers and equip more than 120 facilities.  

AMPATH Ghana: Mitigating Pregnancy Risks 

In 2023, AMPATH Ghana opened the Maternal Fetal Medicine unit at Tamale Teaching Hospital to care for women with high-risk pregnancies. Since its vast service area covers about 7 million people, one of the unit’s goals is to expand its services and evidence-based care to other health facilities in northern Ghana. The team recently trained two midwives from a neighboring hospital so they could share skills and algorithms with colleagues.  

AMPATH Kenya: Cross-Country Cardiac Care  

AMPATH Kenya and its allies have established an inpatient cardiac care unit and cardiology clinic at MTRH that treats more than 200 Kenyans per week, as well as a Moi University cardiology fellowship that produces two new cardiologists per year. Most recently, AMPATH Kenya, including UT Austin Dell Medical School, secured a Michael and Susan Dell Foundation grant to fund lifesaving cardiac surgeries for more than 200 young Kenyans suffering from rheumatic heart disease. 

AMPATH México: Combating Diabetes, Creating Community Care 

AMPATH/MAPAS México is working to combat noncommunicable diseases in Puebla, Mexico, where diabetes and related conditions of ischemic heart disease and chronic kidney disease are leading causes of death. A new initiative aims to train and deploy community health volunteers and recent medical school graduates to reach 400,000 Puebla residents over the next 3 years, offering education through health promotion and screening patients for diabetes, obesity, hypertension and cardiovascular risk. 

AMPATH Nepal: Pediatric and Emergency Preparedness 

Focusing on emergency medicine and centered at Dhulikhel Hospital, AMPATH Nepal partners have united to establish a standard of care for critically ill and injured children while improving pediatric and emergency medical provider readiness across Nepal. Under a pilot grant, a recent project trained 20 doctors in pediatric advanced life support and provided simulation training to 40 medical and nursing students and hospital staff.  

To learn more about the AMPATH Consortium and its partnership with UT Austin, visit the Global Health Program page on the Texas Global website and the Division of Global Health page on Dell Medical School’s website.