Serena Cruz, PhD

Dr. Serena Cruz holds a doctorate in the social sciences and is a practicing medical ethnographer. Her career spans multiple critical areas, including conflict and gender-based sexual violence, infectious diseases—particularly HIV and the sex trade in Eastern and Southern African slums—and, since 2020, global surgery. Her work in global surgery focuses on advancing access to safe, affordable, high-quality, and sustainable Emergency, Critical, and peri-Operative (ECO) care, ensuring that patients receive timely medical attention regardless of their identity or socio-political and economic status.