Biography
Dr. Starr earned her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience and Musical Theatre from the University of Miami and an MPH from Boston University through the Master’s International program, combining public health studies with Peace Corps service in Ethiopia. She completed medical school at BU and her General Surgery residency at UCSF in 2023.
Her global health work spans Ethiopia, other parts of Africa, and Latin America, with a focus on surgical safety, trauma care, and infection prevention. As a CHESA and Lifebox fellow (2018–2021), she led the Clean Cut program and partnered with the WHO and Ethiopian Ministry of Health on trauma registries and quality improvement. She was also an NIH Fogarty Global Health Equity Scholar.
Dr. Starr currently advises the Lifebox Foundation and Ethiopia’s Trauma & Emergency Care Directorate and is completing her Trauma and Surgical Critical Care Fellowship at UCSF/ZSFG. Her honors include the AWS Dr. Hilary Sanfey Award (2023) and the ACS Pfizer Surgical Volunteerism Award (2024). She recently welcomed her first child, Brooks. Her interests include global surgery, surgical quality, trauma systems, and trauma-induced coagulopathy.
Education
| Institution | Degree | Dept or School | End Date | 
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston University School of Medicine | MD | Medicine | 05/2015 | 
| Boston University School of Public Health | MPH | Public Health | 05/2008 | 
| University of Miami | BS | Neuroscience | 05/2006 | 
| University of Miami | BA | Theatre Arts | 05/2006 | 
| UCSF | General Surgery | 
Awards & Honors
| Award | Conferred By | Date | 
|---|---|---|
| Dr. Hilary Sanfey Outstanding Resident Award | Association of Women Surgeons | 2023 | 
| Evan C. Werlin Lodestar Award | UCSF Department of Surgery | 2023 | 
| Haile T. Debas Resident Teaching Award | UCSF Department of Surgery | 2023 | 
| Medical Student Teaching Award | UCSF Department of Surgery | 2023 | 
| William B. Schecter Trauma Resident Award | UCSF | 2022 | 
| Muriel Steele Society Influential Women in Surgery Honor Roll | UCSF | 2019/2022 | 
| Surgical Infections Society Best Oral Presentation, Second Place | Surgical Infection Society | 2019 | 
| Junior Resident Teaching Award | UCSF | 2018 | 
| Department of Emergency Medicine Surgical Consultant of the Year | UCSF | 2017 | 
| Dora Savenor Memorial Prize for Excellence in Surgery | Boston University School of Medicine | 2015 | 
| The Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Student Award | Boston University School of Medicine | 2015 | 
Dechert, T., Stucchi, A., Kauffman, D., Hasty, B., Starr, N., Godfrey, T. (2014). Development of the Medical Student Surgical Research Mentorship Program. Poster presented at: John McCahan Educational Day, Boston University School of Medicine; Boston, MA. (Poster Presentation)
Kaminetzy, L., Kanneganti, M., Karkoska, K., Kimball, A., Leahy, K., Starr, N. (2012). The Outreach Van Project: Meeting People Where They Are. Poster presented at: John McCahan Educational Day, Boston University School of Medicine; Boston, MA. (Poster Presentation)
Karasek, K., Oliveira, T., Silva, D., Starr, N., Hochberg, N., Dietze, R., Ellner, J., Jones-Lopez, E. (2013). TB Index Case Factors Associated with TST Conversion of Household Contacts. Poster presented at: Consortium of Universities for Global Health, Annual Conference; Washington, DC. (Poster Presentation)
Kasotakis, G., Peitzman, E., King, E., Starr, N., Hebert, C., Rosenkranz, P., Sarkar, B., Dechert, T., McAneny, D., Burke, P. (2014). Healthcare Disparities and Risk Factors for Readmission after Emergency General and Vascular Surgical Procedures. Poster presented at: American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, 73rd Annual Meeting; Philadelphia, PA. (Poster Presentation)
Starr, N., Abbensetts, K., Sarkar, B., Dechert, T., Glantz, A., Bird, D., Burke, P., Tompkins, R., Kasotakis, G. (2014). Platelet Transfusion Independently Increases Risk for Acute Lung Injury in the Non-massively Transfused Severely Injured Blunt Trauma Patient. Poster presented at: 100th Annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons, Medical Student Program; San Francisco, CA. (Poster Presentation)
Kasotakis, G., Peitzman, E., King, E., Starr, N., Hebert, C., Rosenkranz, P., Sarkar, B., McAneny, D., Burke, P. (2014). Healthcare Disparities and Risk Factors for Readmission After General Surgical Procedures. Oral Presentation presented at: 100th Annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons; San Francisco, CA. (Oral Presentation)
Starr, N. (2014). "Out of the Box Ideas" for Surgical Interest Groups. Oral Presentation presented at: 100th Annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons, Medical Student Program; San Francisco, CA. (Oral Presentation)
Starr, N. (2012). Lessons Learned in a Peace Corps Experience. Oral Presentation presented at: Peace Corps Masters International 25th Anniversary Celebration, Boston University School of Public Health; Boston, MA. (Oral Presentation)
Starr, N., Dechert, T. (2014). Department of Surgery Medical Student Research Mentoring. Oral Presentation presented at: Graduate Medical Education Meeting; Boston, MA. (Oral Presentation)
George Kasotakis, MD MPH; Elizabeth King, MD; Nichole Starr, BS MPH; Elpida Velmahos, BS; Christopher Hebert, BS; Elizabeth Peitzman, PA-C; Pamela Rosenkranz, RN; Peter Burke, MD; David McAneny, MD; Gerard Doherty, MD (2015). Healthcare Disparities and Risk Factors for Readmission After General Surgical Procedures. Submitted for presentation at: 135th Annual Meeting of the American Surgical Association; San Diego, CA. (Oral Presentation)
In the News
Grants and Funding
- Global Health Equity Scholars Program - D43 Fogarty Training | NIH | 2017-07-01 - 2022-06-30 | Role: Co-Investigator
- Research Training in Gastrointestinal Surgery | NIH | 1988-07-01 - 2021-06-30 | Role: Co-Investigator
Research Interests
Cost-Effectiveness Analyses of Surgical Organizations
Barriers to Accessing Surgical Care
Trauma Care
Research Pathways
Publications
- Global Scaling of a Surgical Infection Prevention Program to 5 Low-Resource Countries.| | PubMed PubMed
- Factors associated with successful implementation of Clean Cut: a perioperative surgical site infection prevention quality improvement programme-a cohort study of low-resource hospitals.| | PubMed PubMed
- Impact of WHO's Surgical Safety Checklist-Based Program on Cleft-lip and Palate Repair Outcomes in LMICs-The CLEAN CLEFT Program.| | PubMed PubMed
- Injury and violence in the context of sustainable development: The first Bethune Round Table in Africa, Bethune Round Table 2024, Conference on Global Surgery, May 16-18, 2024, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.| | PubMed PubMed
- Needs Assessment for the Development of a Sustainability Curriculum for Surgical Residents.| | PubMed PubMed
- A Perioperative Quality Improvement Program for Cesarean Delivery in Ethiopia: A Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial.| | PubMed PubMed
- A Prospective Quality Improvement Program to Reduce Prolonged Postoperative Antibiotic Prophylaxis in Ethiopia.| | PubMed PubMed
- Review of a large trauma registry in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: insights into prehospital care and provider training for trauma quality improvement.| | PubMed PubMed
- Prehospital balanced resuscitation may mitigate hypofibrinogenemia in traumatic hemorrhagic shock.| | PubMed PubMed
- The Devil's in the Depot Details: Case of Iatrogenic Opioid Intoxication After Buprenorphine Injection Requiring Surgical Excision.| | PubMed PubMed
- Scalability and Sustainability of a Surgical Infection Prevention Program in Low-Income Environments.| | PubMed PubMed
- Addressing knowledge gaps in Surgical Safety Checklist use: statistical process control analysis of a surgical quality improvement programme in Ethiopia.| | PubMed PubMed
- Feasibility of Gastrografin Use for Adhesive Small Bowel Obstruction in Low-Income Countries.| | PubMed PubMed
- Correction: Academic global surgical competencies: A modified Delphi consensus study.| | PubMed PubMed
- Academic global surgical competencies: A modified Delphi consensus study.| | PubMed PubMed
- Correction: Exploring the Use of a Fit-for-Purpose Surgical Headlight in Sub-Saharan Africa: Mixed Methods Study.| | PubMed PubMed
- Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries.| | PubMed PubMed
- Exploring the Use of a Fit-for-Purpose Surgical Headlight in Sub-Saharan Africa: Mixed Methods Study.| | PubMed PubMed
- Bridging the know-do gap in low-income surgical environments: Creating contextually appropriate training videos to promote safer surgery in Ethiopia.| | PubMed PubMed
- Evaluation of an adaptive, multimodal intervention to reduce postoperative infections following cesarean delivery in Ethiopia: study protocol of the CLEAN-CS cluster-randomized stepped wedge interventional trial.| | PubMed PubMed
- Platelet Transfusion for Trauma Resuscitation| | UCSF Research Profile
- Perioperative provider safety in the pandemic: Development, implementation and evaluation of an adjunct COVID-19 Surgical Patient Checklist.| | PubMed PubMed
- Perioperative health care provider safety and resource availability during the COVID-19 pandemic in India and other low middle-income countries.| | PubMed PubMed
- Global Collaboration on a UV-C Cabinet to Decontaminate and Reuse N95 Respirators in Low- and Middle-Income Environments| | UCSF Research Profile
- Clean and Confident: Impact of Sterile Instrument Processing Workshops on Knowledge and Confidence in Five Low- and Middle-Income Countries.| | PubMed PubMed
- Operating room efficiency in a low resource setting: a pilot study from a large tertiary referral center in Ethiopia.| | PubMed PubMed
- Sustainability of a Surgical Quality Improvement Program at Hospitals in Ethiopia.| | PubMed PubMed
- Comment on "COVID-19 Preparedness Within the Surgical, Obstetric, and Anesthetic Ecosystem in Sub Saharan Africa".| | PubMed PubMed
- Perioperative Provider Safety in Low- and Middle-income Countries During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Call for Renewed Investments in Resources and Training.| | PubMed PubMed
- Academic Global Surgery Curricula: Current Status and a Call for a More Equitable Approach.| | PubMed PubMed
- Author response to: Clean Cut (adaptive, multimodal surgical infection prevention programme) for low-resource settings: a prospective quality improvement study.| | PubMed PubMed
- Early Outcome of Laparotomy Wounds in Pediatric Patients in TASH, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A Six-Months Prospective Study.| | PubMed PubMed
- Clean Cut (adaptive, multimodal surgical infection prevention programme) for low-resource settings: a prospective quality improvement study.| | PubMed PubMed
- Construction and validation of UV-C decontamination cabinets for filtering facepiece respirators.| | PubMed PubMed
- Pulse oximetry in low-resource settings during the COVID-19 pandemic.| | PubMed PubMed
- COVID-19 Preparedness Within the Surgical, Obstetric, and Anesthetic Ecosystem in Sub-Saharan Africa.| | PubMed PubMed
- Identification of injury and shock driven effects on ex vivo platelet aggregometry: A cautionary tale of phenotyping.| | PubMed PubMed
- The Lifebox Surgical Headlight Project: engineering, testing, and field assessment in a resource-constrained setting.| | PubMed PubMed
- Value and Feasibility of Telephone Follow-Up in Ethiopian Surgical Patients.| | PubMed PubMed
- Diagnosis and management of surgical disease at Ethiopian health centres: cross-sectional survey of resources and barriers to care.| | PubMed PubMed
- Qualitative outcomes of Clean Cut: implementation lessons from reducing surgical infections in Ethiopia.| | PubMed PubMed
- Global variation in anastomosis and end colostomy formation following left-sided colorectal resection.| | PubMed PubMed
- Pooled analysis of WHO Surgical Safety Checklist use and mortality after emergency laparotomy.| | PubMed PubMed
- Platelet transfusion increases risk for acute respiratory distress syndrome in non-massively transfused blunt trauma patients.| | PubMed PubMed
- Laparoscopy in management of appendicitis in high-, middle-, and low-income countries: a multicenter, prospective, cohort study.| | PubMed PubMed
- Provision of surgical care in Ethiopia: Challenges and solutions.| | PubMed PubMed
- Socially Responsible Surgery: Building Recognition and Coalition.| | PubMed PubMed
- Determinants of morbidity and mortality following emergency abdominal surgery in children in low-income and middle-income countries.| | PubMed PubMed
 
    