Harnessing Data Science to Promote Equity In Injury And Surgery For Africa: Injuries and other surgically treated diseases comprise a significant burden of disease in Cameroon and other sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries with deep inequities that are particularly unmasked in acute care settings. D-SINE Africa Hub will focus on the intersection between injury and equity, leveraging data science to decrease the impact of trauma, surgical disease, and disparities on the population of Cameroon and SSA by promoting collaborative research, networking, and capacity building with an emphasis on equity. D-SINE Africa

The Data Science Center for the Study of Surgery, Injury, and Equity in Africa (D-SINE Africa) is a strategic partnership between the University of Buea (Buea), the University of California (Los Angeles (UCLA) and Berkeley), The Ministry of Public Health in Cameroon (MoPH), the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cameroon (AIMSCameroon), and the University of Cape Town in South Africa (UCT).

We have partners from the Congo-Basin Institute in Cameroon, researchers from Soroti Regional Referral Hospital in Uganda, and the UCLA Center for HIV Identification, Prevention, and Treatment Services. This coalition is built upon a long-standing collaboration between Buea and UCLA focused on decreasing the burden of surgical diseases in Cameroon and other sub- Saharan African (SSA) countries. Injuries and other surgically treated diseases comprise a significant burden of disease in SSA, but opportunities for research and funding are lacking. Our work on injury and other surgical emergencies has identified deep inequities that are particularly unmasked in acute care settings. The intersection between injury and equity is our priority area of study, as the inequities revealed by trauma are often symptomatic of larger, systemic, cross-cutting issues.