New Leadership Announcement
In Surgeons of Hope, we understand the importance of looking ahead and securing future leadership. In 2025, the current board of directors worked diligently to onboard young members who will elevate our organization to the next level of growth. By combining fresh, modern ideas with experience and wisdom, we are setting up opportunities for our children in the coming years. The board promotes a balanced approach by including both medical and non-medical members. This diversity provides different perspectives on how to run the organization efficiently. We are proud to announce the incorporation of the following new members: Javier Brenes, MD Director of Congenital Heart Disease, Texas Children’s Hospital – North Austin, Texas Originally from Costa Rica, Dr. Brenes played a key role in implementing a strategic plan proposed by our Co-chair, Eduardo DaCruz, MD, to reduce the mortality rate from 8% in 2014 to 1.4% in 2016, aligning with the standards of developed countries. Unfortunately, much of this progress was lost due to COVID-19. His knowledge of health policies, strong relationships with local medical teams, and extensive experience will certainly help us regain momentum. Jorge Dengo Originally from Costa Rica, Jorge is a multinational executive and former Congressman with nearly thirty years of experience in regulatory strategy, corporate affairs, and public policy leadership. He has developed many important connections in Latin America, particularly in Mexico and Costa Rica—regions where we have active operations. We are confident that Jorge will help us establish key links to enhance our development and fundraising plans. Viviana Limon Vice President of Healthcare Investment Banking at Evercore Partners With roots in Latin America and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Spanish Linguistics, along with experience in researching the effects of early language acquisition and development in children, Viviana is a passionate advocate for the well-being of Latin American children. Her connections with healthcare companies and her strong drive will help position our organization more favorably within the health industry.
Training Leaders in Pediatric Cardiology: Dr. Franciele Regiane Rohden
Throughout 2023, Paraguayan Dr. Franciele Regiane Rohden from the General Pediatric Hospital “Niños de Acosta Ñu” obtained a six-months-training on Pediatric Cardiovascular Imaging at the Gregorio Marañón General University Hospital, Madrid – Spain, provided by Surgeons of Hope and by the support of Dr. Nancy Garay, Dr. Constancio Medrano, Dr. Enrique Maroto and Dr. Fernando Ballesteros. Among diverse subjects, her training included Outpatient rotations where clinical consultation and transthoracic echocardiography of patients who came to the service for the first time was performed, or patients with already established cardiological diagnoses who came for review, either for clinical control or to enter the list of procedures, surgery and/or diagnostic or therapeutic catheterization. She also carried out an internship in transesophageal echocardiography in the Pediatric Hemodynamics laboratory as well as rotations in the Fetal Echocardiography laboratory and Magnetic Resonance and Computed Tomography service. All the above would certainly come to accomplish the training’s main objectives of improving team coordination, offering comprehensive care to patients, and supporting the doctor’s skills in terms of the various procedures that are carried out daily at General Pediatric Hospital “Niños de Acosta Ñu”. According to Doctora Franciele Regiane, “The attending cardiologists showed willingness and camaraderie in sharing their knowledge and providing their teachings to me and the other residents who rotate in the service. I always felt a very familiar and comfortable environment working with patients and co-workers”. We are deeply excited to see how her acquired knowledge will improve cardiology services in general.
Our newest team member: Diana Chinchilla!
At Surgeon of Hope, we have some great news to share. It’s with pleasure that we announce Diana Chinchilla has recently joined our team as Operations and Missions Director. Based in Costa Rica, one of the countries where we hold a long-time history of successful missions, Diana has a solid professional journey working as commercial and operations manager for brands such as Life Fitness or Salvatore Ferragamo. In the last few years, in addition to her master’s degree in marketing and advertising, she’s been specializing on project management’s methodology. According to her “My main contribution to Surgeons of Hope will rely on strategic thinking, fundraising diversity, storytelling and a better knowledge of our audience and children”. A great fan of gardening and mothering a 4-year-old son, for many years, she’s shared her spare time to different local communities where she supports social programs. Currently, she’s leading a personal project to collect 200 Christmas presents for a rural marginalized neighborhood this December. We wish her a full accomplishment. We’re certain that our patients, medical staff, donors, partners, interns, general staff, will be delighted to work with Diana. Please feel free to contact her by email at [email protected]
