Site coordinator: Debra Messina Coritsidis, MD
SB coordinator: Mark Sedler, MD, MPH
An NGO—A Promise to Peru—was founded by Dr. Debra Coritsidis (ophthalmology) and Dr. John Shanley in 2011 to provide cataract surgery missions and supportive medical clinics to local populations in the rural area near Cuzco, Peru. Stony Brook's Renaissance School of Medicine medical students have participated in these missions every year since the program was started.
In recent years, the NGO expanded its geographic presence to other sites in Latin America, most notably Ecuador, as well as at the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. As a result of this broader objective, the NGO officially rebranded in 2019 as Sights on Health.
Each year, a senior RSOM medical student and a selected resident in Ophthalmology, receive funding from the Messina Award for Excellence in Global Health.
