About SERF

SERF (Spine Education and Research Foundation) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit registered charitable organization and is part of The Foundations of Orthopaedic Association of Allentown (Tax ID #90-0127433). SERF was founded by Jeffrey McConnell, MD and Ujjwal K Debnath, MD and is the parent charity of Operation Straight Spine (OSS). The primary goal of SERF is to provide financial support for independent spinal research, education and mission work through OSS.

SERF has received generous donations for Operation Straight Spine from a variety of US hospitals, medical implant companies, private individuals, and the North American Spine Society (NASS) in the United States.

All donations go directly to funding the much needed surgeries, supplies and medical education we provide. Administrative costs for SERF are minimal and personnel providing services to SERF and OSS are volunteers. This allows us to allocate the highest percentage of donated funds directly to services.

Operation Straight Spine is the first-ever charitable project of its kind in India, consisting of outpatient clinics, major spine surgery interventions, ward rounds, and teaching seminars for local support staff and physicians.

Funded by SERF in the US and SPIRIT (Spine and Paediatric Injuries Rehabilitation Trust) in India, the OSS mission is to:

• Provide spinal surgery and medical services to socially deprived and underprivileged individuals who cannot afford or who do not have access to such services.
• Raise the standard of patient care in spinal surgery and orthopaedics across the region
• Create a self-sustaining center of excellence in spinal care at a well-known and respected charity hospital facility
• Create an infrastructure to provide specialist training in orthopaedic and spinal surgery for local medical professionals and trainees.