Vinay N. Kampalath, MD, DTM&H
President-Elect University of Pennsylvania
Biography
It is with great enthusiasm that I put forth my candidacy as president-elect for the Global Emergency Medicine Academy (GEMA) for 2025-26. Presently, I am an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania/Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where I am a pediatric emergency medicine physician and global health researcher.
I first joined GEMA in 2020, amid the pandemic, when I felt deeply unsure of my future as a global health practitioner and researcher. Joining GEMA at that juncture injected excitement and optimism into my career, and I soon found a passionate community where I could both learn about cutting-edge advances in global emergency medicine and contribute to knowledge production. I found a community that was receptive to my ideas on how to grow GEMA, and I founded the Humanitarian Taskforce shortly after joining. The HTF, which now has over 130 members, has since grown into one of the most popular subgroups of GEMA, and we now have an active community that has produced countless webinars and SAEM pulse articles and is now working on several projects to help generate evidence in the humanitarian space. I am grateful that GEMA leaders gave me space for my ideas to flourish.
In the years since joining, I have been the co-chair of the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Subcommittee and have served on the GEMA ExCo for the last two years as Program Committee Liaison and IT/Social Media Chair. In these roles, my main focus has been supporting and promoting the work of GEMA members at our Annual Meeting and on our social media platforms.
As president-elect, I intend to provide all members with a space where they have the agency to shape the future of global emergency medicine. This is particularly important for medical students, trainees, members from LMICs, and junior faculty. I intend to use my position as president-elect to catalyze collaboration opportunities for GEMA members not only within the larger SAEM community but also with external organizations, such as IFEM, AFEM, CUGH, and humanitarian and global health organizations. I also hope to encourage networking opportunities between members and to promote GEMA webinars, particularly as they pertain to career development and research in global emergency medicine.
I believe that with my experience in leadership within GEMA and SAEM, combined with my passion for global emergency medicine will make me an excellent candidate for the position of president-elect. Thank you for considering me for this position!
I first joined GEMA in 2020, amid the pandemic, when I felt deeply unsure of my future as a global health practitioner and researcher. Joining GEMA at that juncture injected excitement and optimism into my career, and I soon found a passionate community where I could both learn about cutting-edge advances in global emergency medicine and contribute to knowledge production. I found a community that was receptive to my ideas on how to grow GEMA, and I founded the Humanitarian Taskforce shortly after joining. The HTF, which now has over 130 members, has since grown into one of the most popular subgroups of GEMA, and we now have an active community that has produced countless webinars and SAEM pulse articles and is now working on several projects to help generate evidence in the humanitarian space. I am grateful that GEMA leaders gave me space for my ideas to flourish.
In the years since joining, I have been the co-chair of the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Subcommittee and have served on the GEMA ExCo for the last two years as Program Committee Liaison and IT/Social Media Chair. In these roles, my main focus has been supporting and promoting the work of GEMA members at our Annual Meeting and on our social media platforms.
As president-elect, I intend to provide all members with a space where they have the agency to shape the future of global emergency medicine. This is particularly important for medical students, trainees, members from LMICs, and junior faculty. I intend to use my position as president-elect to catalyze collaboration opportunities for GEMA members not only within the larger SAEM community but also with external organizations, such as IFEM, AFEM, CUGH, and humanitarian and global health organizations. I also hope to encourage networking opportunities between members and to promote GEMA webinars, particularly as they pertain to career development and research in global emergency medicine.
I believe that with my experience in leadership within GEMA and SAEM, combined with my passion for global emergency medicine will make me an excellent candidate for the position of president-elect. Thank you for considering me for this position!
