Co-Pilot Project 2021 Update

Published: December 30, 2021   

In 2021 we continued our work in Ukraine with the Co-Pilot Project with one formal trip (led by Mariya Soroka and Luke Tomycz) during which we performed several epilepsy and brain tumor surgeries with surgical partners in both Kyiv and Lutsk.  A highlight of this trip was an anatomic hemispherectomy – the first to our knowledge ever performed in Ukraine – on a little girl in Lutsk who had a recurrence of her seizures, but again is seizure free and doing very well after this repeat surgery.  We also traveled to Uzhgorod where we had a busy day of consultation with the local epilepsy team on various complex epilepsy patients who came from all around the country.  


Unfortunately, because of the COVID pandemic, trips by both Dr. Matthew Geck (from Austin, Texas) to perform scoliosis surgery and Dr. James Liu (from Newark , NJ) to perform skull base surgery were canceled this year.  But we hope to reschedule both of these trips as restrictions loosen.  Furthermore, several of the Ukrainian surgeons who were slated to visit Dr. Forbes in Cincinnati have had their fellowships delayed.   


Thanks to connections made by Dr. Vitalii and Yulia Shama and Oleksa Martinouk, we were able to speak with two new surgical partners in Europe, Drs. Schmitz in Germany and Dr. Rocka in Lithuania, both of whom are interested in training Ukrainian residents and setting up an international fellowship/observership in coordination with our team.


Finally, with the help of Maria Borisovska PhD, we were able to locate and purchase an EEG amplifier and this was transported to Dr. Kostiuk, the chief of epilepsy surgery at Romadanov Institute.  He has already used this for intraoperative electrocorticography and we hope to assist them in their first extra-operative mapping case.  This technology should substantially improve this center’s capabilities to offer surgery to a wider number of patients with drug-resistant, refractory epilepsy.  


We hope during the next trip which is planned for April/May of 2022 we will reach and surpass an exciting milestone: the 100th major neurosurgical operation conducted by our team in Ukraine in cooperation with our partner surgeons!  We hope to plan an annual dinner and fundraising event in 2022 following this trip.
  

Learn more about the project here.

Donate to support neurosurgical training for Ukrainian doctors:


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Oxygen concentrators delivered to more Ukrainian hospitals

Published: April 24, 2021   

Our second fundraiser in support of Ukrainian hospitals fighting COVID-19 is going strong. As yet another spike in new cases has swamped the country, medical institutions and non-profit organizations from all over Ukraine are in search of life-saving oxygen for patients who cannot do without air support. Your recent donations helped purchasing the three more oxygen concentrators that were delivered to clinics and hospital in three different oblasts, all specifically focused on treating the coronavirus patients.

Thus, one concentrator was delivered to the Vorokhta outpatient clinic (Ivano-Frankivsk region), one more to the Shiryaiv CDH (Odessa region), and another one to the Bilokorovytsia outpatient clinic (Zhytomyr region).

We thank everyone for your support, generous donations and information sharing! We are also thankful for the outstanding cooperation with the non-profit Patients of Ukraine (Patsienty Ukrainy), who have been working hard to find, purchase and deliver the much-needed medical equipment to various Ukrainian cities, towns and villages!

Razom volunteers and supporters stand with courageous Ukrainian doctors, outpatient and health departments’ staff. We are deeply grateful for your tireless work! You are not alone. We are – razom – together!

Please consider supporting our Facebook fundraiser or donating at the Razom Emergency Response page.

Learn more about Razom efforts to help Ukraine fight the pandemic:
– Initial Pandemic Response
– Emergency Response Webinars
– Over $45 000 Delivered in Supplies to Health Care Workers

Co-Pilot Project in Scientific Journal

Published: January 23, 2021   

We are thrilled to share with you that our Co-Pilot Project which aims to raise the bar of neurosurgery training in Ukraine has been described and published as a learning case in the scientific journal Science Direct.

“About 5 years ago, I first travelled to Ukraine to meet and operate with neurosurgery colleagues in Kyiv. – writes Dr. Luke Tomycz, the leading neurosurgeon of the Co-Pilot Project team – Since then, our team of surgeons from the United States have assisted colleagues in Ukraine with over 80 major operations on the brain and spine, in addition to consulting on countless hundreds more. I want to thank my friends from the U.S. who have taken time away from family and work to travel to Ukraine, colleagues in Ukraine who inspire us with their resilience and ingenuity, members of our administrative “Co-Pilot” team who meet monthly to work on this project, and members of Razom and the greater Ukrainian community who have supported and donated to this work. We are humbled by your continued support as we look to build epilepsy surgery capabilities at several centers around Ukraine.”

You can find the article available online and for free here.

Earlier, in Fall 2019, the CPP program was also presented at the Princeton University. Read more about the presentation here.

Learn more about the Co-Pilot Project and support neurosurgery training in Ukraine here.

Two hospitals in Ukraine received life-saving equipment due to Razom collaborative emergency fundraising efforts

Published: July 23, 2020   

Pandemic Response Support

Published: April 10, 2020   

Currently, Razom Emergency Response is focused on providing support to Ukraine and to Ukrainian doctors in their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. We are raising funds to buy and distribute personal protective equipment to doctors in hospitals which are dedicated to battling the disease. Our volunteers are working with several organizations to raise the funds, to source the material, and to distribute the goods responsibly.

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Co-Pilot Project in Princeton

Published: September 27, 2019   

September 25th – the Co-Pilot project duo of American neurosurgeon Luke Tomycz and Ukrainian neurosurgeon Ihor Kurilets presented the Co-Pilot Project at the Princeton University.

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Medical Reform In Ukraine Explained By A Brain Surgeon

Published: March 22, 2019   

Razom and The Ukrainian Medical Association of North America (UMANA) welcomed Dr. Igor Kurilets, Ukrainian neurosurgeon and Co-Pilot project participant, in New York on March 18th at Caveat.

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Co-Pilot Project: Trip 7 in Fall 2018

Published: October 18, 2018   

The Co-Pilot trip number 7 started in mid September. Three American doctors continued their collaboration and neurosurgical training of Ukrainian colleagues in three Ukrainian cities.

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