Gezzer Ortega, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor
Date
23 November 2025
HTL’s Gezzer Ortega, MD, MPH, was recognized by Mass General Brigham leadership for receiving a research grant from the Humana Foundation through the Surgeons’ Comprehensive AI Lab Program for Equity and Learning (SCALPEL).
Gezzer’s research focuses on improving language access and communication for patients with a non-English preferred language, a population that continues to face significant barriers to high-quality care. His work includes the design, implementation, and evaluation of digital health interventions that bridge communication gaps and strengthen patient–provider interactions, including leveraging tools such as the Jeenie app, which enables real-time, on-demand access to live interpreters in clinical settings.
Through his leadership in language equity initiatives, Dr. Ortega aims to reduce disparities in surgical and clinical care by ensuring that patients and clinicians can communicate clearly, effectively, and compassionately—regardless of language differences. His receipt of the SCALPEL research grant is a well-deserved recognition of his longstanding contributions to advancing equitable, language-concordant care.
Note: The goal of SCALPEL is to improve surgical trainee empathy, communication quality, and equity by providing scalable, AI-driven standardized patient simulations. The program uses standardized patient encounters with generative AI models that enable repeated, realistic practice of complex clinical conversations, including pain management, informed consent, and psychosocial discussions. Through a multi-site evaluation, SCALPEL aims to demonstrate measurable improvements in communication performance. By generating rigorous evidence, SCALPEL advances a cost-effective training model aligned with health equity and workforce education goals.
