David Nott Foundation

On this International Women’s Day, we at the David Nott Foundation would like to give a shout out to the men who help the women. Saladin Salwan, one of our Faculty surgical leads for Syria, has worked tirelessly for women in Syria and beyond, cervical screening, conducting oncological gynaecology and training local surgeons. He always has a smile on his face, and his head is full of ideas and inspiration to do more to help. ‘Cancer doesn’t’ wait for peace to come, so I helped over the years to do surgical treatment for women with gynaecological cancer. I am committed to helping Syria rebuild in a health capacity, and really I am committed to helping womankind wherever there is a need.’ #internationalwomen'sday2025

You shouldn’t brag about your children, but sometimes you cannot help but brag about your Founder. And on this International Women’s Day 2025, all of us at the David Nott Foundation and our beneficiaries, would like to give an enormous shout out to our amazing Eleanor Nott. Co-founder of the David Nott Foundation, our Senior Advisor, wife of David, and mother of two glorious daughters. As you see in this short video, Elly visited Syria a couple of weeks ago, in a whirlwind 4-day trip encapsulating 5 Syrian cities: Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Hama and Idlib. Here she talks to camera, as succinctly as any foreign correspondent, from the hospital M1 in Aleppo, or what remains of it. It was the site where, in 2016 David risked his own life, together with fellow surgeons including our key Syrian Faculty leads, Ammar Darwish and Mahmoud Hariri, to save the lives of others. Elly explains her emotion as she visited the site where devastating numbers of lives were lost, where many were saved, and the location where the seeds of the David Nott Foundation were sown,10 years ago. Since then, Elly has worked tirelessly alongside David to build and run our Foundation, as well as studying for a PHD and raising their girls. She is a woman in a million. Her intelligence, courage, tenacity, hard work, kindness, and her plucky spirit, have all contributed to the Foundation we know and love today. With leadership like this, despite the troubled situations where we find our work, it is impossible not to feel inspired. #InternationalWomensDay2025

Since the war began, we have made a commitment to Ukraine’s doctors. Our mission is to empower medical professionals facing multiple war wounds on the ground. Our Hostile Environment Surgical Training (HEST®) course is designed to improve the emergency trauma surgery skills of doctors living and working in war or catastrophe. Delivered by our faculty of trainers over four or five days, our training covers every field of trauma surgery. To give participants the best learning experience, we use cutting-edge teaching equipment and simulators that are specially designed for us. Our one-of-a-kind human war wound simulator offers participants the opportunity to practice techniques and get to grips with complex injuries they may face on the frontline.

We put action where our mouth is. This is why we continue to support surgeons with our surgical training courses in Ukraine. Here, Ukrainian anaesthetic surgeon, Oleksandr Nazarchuk describes one of his darkest days in his home town of Vinnytsia. Oleksandr attended one of our HEST® courses last year, and is one of our Instructor Potential candidates who could be nominated to train surgeons in his home country, as part of our Ukrainian Faculty. We have an urgent role to play as Ukraine defends itself, to enable surgeons there to save more lives. Our mission is built upon 3 decades of surgical experience in war zones. Please support us in any way you can. https://lght.ly/d4i4nf2 #Ukraine

Meet Uliana Kashchii, an anaesthetist from Kyiv, Ukraine. Uliana is one of our Instructor Potential (IP) candidates who we hope will go on to train fellow surgeons in her home country. Here, Uliana describes one of the hardest experiences on the frontline where she did not manage to save a patient: surely the worst fear of any doctor. "There are a lot of difficulties we face in medical context in Ukraine. And the first one, I'd say it's a shortage of staff - we are very understaffed. We don't have enough specialists. And I'd say that not enough of education and possibilities for education are the second main problem." We support surgeons from all over Ukraine through our Hostile Environment Surgical Training (HEST®) courses. Donate here: https://lght.ly/iahph4f

Our CEO, James Gough on our recent scoping visit to Ukraine, published in McCain Institute blog. https://lght.ly/i0n6obi

It's three years since the devastating invasion of Ukraine, and for the next two weeks we will be covering our recent scoping visit to the country. Follow our CEO, James Gough and Ukraine Faculty Lead, Michael Samatowka, as they consult Ukrainian surgeons and health officials as to how we can best support them in the surgical training capacity at this intensely challenging time. #ukraine

One year ago, we spent a week in the Libyan city of Tripoli and completed a first-in-our-history mission. We up-skilled 103 doctors – the largest number trained on one mission – and trialled our brand-new obstetrics and gynaecology course. Watch the space for news about our Hostile Environment Surgical Training (HEST®) Courses for 2025. https://lght.ly/ldode0

One year ago, we spent a week in the Libyan city of Tripoli and completed a first-in-our-history mission. We up-skilled 103 doctors – the largest number trained on one mission – and trialled our brand-new obstetrics and gynaecology course. Watch this space for news about our Hostile Environment Surgical Training (HEST®) Courses for 2025. “With my training I was able to send her home. She is alive, she is a grandmother, she is everything.” Dr Alghamji, Libya https://lght.ly/5nkl02c

We asked Gemini AI, 'Who is the world's best war surgeon?' The response was: 'Dr David Nott is widely considered one of the most experienced and respected war surgeons in the world.' Built on David’s 30 years of frontline experience, we upskill medical professionals to save more lives in countries impacted by war and catastrophe. “I’ve seen the horrors of war. But I’ve also seen the power of sharing life saving knowledge. That’s why we do what we do.” David Nott #gemini #google