In 2022-2023, a Bass Connections team is working to address the shortages of labor, funds and infrastructure in neurosurgical settings around the world. Using the World Health Organization’s health system building blocks - from research and technology to service delivery - team members are assessing the big-picture challenges facing these countries’ overloaded neurosurgeons.

“We are a new team ... but we have high hopes to impact not just the individuals in one country, but the systems in multiple countries.” 

Engineering professors, Sophia Santillan and Rebecca Simmons, have been crucial role models for Sydney Hunt as a Black and Hispanic woman in STEM. From the start of her first year, she spent time during office hours and lunches having conversations with them about diversity and retention in STEM fields.