Charity Starts At Home
Wolfe may have captured one viewpoint with his idiom, but perhaps it deserves another consideration. If “home” is measured by more than just geography, then Dr. Thav Thambi-Pillai, associate professor of surgery in the Sanford School of Medicine, has found his way back home time and time again.
The renowned transplant surgeon has become a leading figure in global surgery through a career defined by service and commitment to his South Asian homeland. For years, he has worked to expand access to essential surgical care for underserved populations, maintaining a deep connection to the community that shaped him. Today, that enduring bond and passion for global health continue to drive his efforts to make lasting differences where it matters most.
There is no doubt that Dr. Thambi’s global perspective stems from his unique upbringing. Born in Sri Lanka, he fled the war-torn country with his family in 1987, when he was a teen.
“When you live through a civil war, it leaves a deep impression on you,” he explained. “It is much different than reading about it. It has allowed me to see the world differently.”
The family settled in Africa, and at 18, Thambi left that country to earn his undergraduate and medical degrees in Galway, Ireland. He had always wanted to practice in the U.S. and relocated to continue his training. He spent several years at the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, the University of Cincinnati, and Wright State University, and eventually arrived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in 2010, when he was recruited by Sanford Health to help revitalize its transplant program.
“When he joined Sanford Clinic Surgical Associates as our general/transplant surgeon, we shared the common commitment to create a general surgery residency program, something that had been discontinued around 1986 in South Dakota,” said Dr. Gary Timmerman, chair of the SSOM’s Department of Surgery. “Thav had served as an assistant program director at his previous location, and that helped us lay the groundwork for the proposed program in 2011-2012.”
“When I moved to Sioux Falls, it was the first time in my career I was in a place where there was no surgical residency program,” Thambi added. “Students were missing learning opportunities without it. The stars aligned, and I was able to help resurrect the SSOM surgery residency program and have served as its founding program director since.”
While helping establish and lead the residency program is perhaps one of his most meaningful contributions in Sioux Falls, Dr. Thambi is quick to acknowledge that his own success was shaped by the guidance and support of influential mentors.
Among them is Dr. Timmerman, whom he has known for the better part of two decades. He also points to Dr. John Vander Woude, a former cardiothoracic surgeon at Sanford Health, as a pivotal influence in his decision to pursue an MBA.
“I admired the way he approached problems,” Dr. Thambi said. “Dr. Vander Woude told me, ‘With an MBA, you can make a broader impact in global surgery. It will change how you think.’ He was absolutely right. As surgeons, we focus on critical outcomes, but we don’t always consider the financial side. He reminded me that I needed to have more than one bottom line. As a surgeon, you need the margin to meet the mission.
“Surgery is expensive, so it is an economic investment,” he continued. “But investments in surgery lead to economic empowerment in that community, too. American rural critical access hospitals can’t keep their doors open without a surgical service line. Surgery brings significant revenue and sustains critical revenue streams that support the whole system.”
His career culminated in a significant milestone when, in late 2025, he was inducted as president of the World Body of the International College of Surgeons (ICS), a global organization dedicated to bringing together surgeons of all nations, races, and creeds. The appointment represents one of the highest honors in international surgery.
Dr. Thambi’s journey to the position was marked by years of active service within the organization. After being named a Fellow of the International College of Surgeons in 2008, he became deeply involved in committees and leadership projects. In 2021, he was elected president of the United States Section of the ICS, a role that further expanded his influence within the organization. He subsequently served on the World Body Executive Committee and later as president-elect, reflecting decades of commitment to both surgical practice and leadership within the international medical community, as well as dedication to advancing surgical education.
“I am very passionate about global health and rural surgery,” he said. “There are more than eight billion people in the world: half of them lack access to safe surgery, which creates a huge need. Thirty percent of the global burden of disease is surgical, higher than all the infectious diseases like malaria, TB and HIV put together.”
For Dr. Thambi, taking action is more than just a talking point.
After decades of civil war and devastating natural disasters, including the 2004 Asian tsunami, Thambi and a group of other Sri Lankan physicians living in the United States sought a way to give back to underserved communities in their native country. From that desire to help, in 2003, they established the non-profit International Medical Health Organization (TheIMHO.org), which quickly grew into a global humanitarian organization rooted in compassion and service. Since its founding, IMHO has invested more than $15 million in development projects across 18 countries and provided life-saving support to communities facing emergencies and crises worldwide.
Out of either gratitude or guilt for being fortunate enough to escape Sri Lanka as a young teenager, Dr. Thambi returned to the country in 2003 during his fellowship. “We went on a ward ground and saw a young boy of 12 or so with kidney failure,” he recounted. “There was no access to dialysis or transplant in the public sector, and nothing they could do for him. It was tough to wrap my brain around. He had a worse prognosis than people with most cancers. It was heartbreaking.
“I want to change the fact that global surgery is a neglected aspect of global health,” he continued. “I realize it is a tall order, but I am confident I can lay the foundation for the future generations to build it up.”
Going well beyond rhetoric, he actively invests in the future of his home country. In 2023, Dr. Thambi helped achieve a major milestone in Sri Lanka’s medical history by taking part in the first living-donor kidney transplant performed in Northern Sri Lanka. Working alongside a dedicated local team, Dr. Thambi successfully carried out the groundbreaking procedure on a 17-year-old girl who received a kidney from her mother. The donor surgery was performed laparoscopically, a technique rarely available in the region at the time. The mission was made possible through a collaborative effort between the IMHO and the ICS, and support from the Sanford USD Medical Center, highlighting the power of international partnership and local expertise working together to transform lives.
“Through all his life, he has remained obligated and loyal to his homeland of Sri Lanka, frequently returning to extend his specialized training in transplantation to his homeland and his general surgery talents to other countries, providing lifesaving and changing surgical care,” said Dr. Timmerman. “This contribution is the mission of the International College of Surgeons, and he exemplifies it better than anyone else I know.”
The same dedication extends to the students he teaches.
“His role as a global leader will help provide opportunities for outreach rotations not only for our surgical residents but can include overseas opportunities for medical mission work for our medical students,” Timmerman continued.
Those opportunities could include locations in Ghana, Costa Rica, New Zealand, and other countries where Thambi serves as the newly appointed physician director of Sanford World Clinics. In this role, he will provide clinical care and physician leadership while partnering closely with Sanford World Clinic and Sanford Health executive teams to advance safe, high-quality and equitable care across the globe.
“Our medical school, Sanford Health, and South Dakota all greatly benefit with Dr. Thambi serving as the world president of the ICS,” said Timmerman. “His life and career serve as an example for global surgical care, opportunity, and growth. We are fortunate to have an individual of such high character and personal commitment to that cause, and we are all better for his example.”
“If one truly believes in leaving a legacy and impact, the best thing to do is pass knowledge on,” Dr. Thambi explained. “When you teach, you learn. It gives you new ideas outside the box. Students ask good questions.”
In the pursuit of true happiness, Dr. Thambi draws on his own experiences to offer thoughtful guidance for those he mentors. He tells them that in giving, they receive.
“Humanitarian charitable work is the catalyst that helps to transform happiness to joy, a state of inner peace, contentment and prolonged happiness,” he stated. “My hope is that students experience this early, so they see opportunities throughout their careers to invest in and understand that happiness leads to success.
“I tell them: ‘Make the most of it. There is no substitution for happiness and joy.’”
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