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Tom “Dr. Tom” Catena was born in Amsterdam, New York. He went on to study mechanical engineering at Brown, in the U.S., before enrolling at Duke to study medicine on a naval scholarship. After he completed an internship at the Naval Medical Center San Diego in 1993, Catena joined the U.S. Navy, and for the next four years, he served his country as a flight surgeon. After his discharge from the Navy in 1999, Catena began residency in family medicine at Union Hospital in Terre Haute, Indiana, while also participating in medical mission trips to Guyana and Honduras. Having received experience working at international missions, he moved to Kenya, then to Nairobi and South Sudan before finally settling in the Nuba Mountain region.
Since 2007, Dr. Tom has been on call 24 hours, seven days a week at the Mother of Mercy Catholic Hospital to care for the more than a million citizens of Nuba amidst the ongoing civil war between the Government of Sudan and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement. Humanitarian aid is restricted here. Very few NGOs still operate due to the Khartoum government’s blockade. Since 2012, while aid has not been expressly forbidden, none has arrived as volunteers are unable to travel into the region. Limited by his surroundings, Catena sometimes uses decades-old treatments and engages the local community to work as nurses and in other roles to assist him and the patients.
Being the only surgeon who is working in Nuba Mountains under the dangerous circumstances, Dr. Tom is the only hope for people living in the neighborhood. Patients frequently travel by foot or by cart for up to a week to reach the Mother of Mercy Hospital, where Catena practices.
Dr. Tom was recently profiled in the award-winning feature length documentary, The Heart of Nuba, where he selflessly and courageously serves the needs of a forgotten people, as the region is bombed relentlessly by an indicted war criminal, Omar Al-Bashir. Two things remain constant: Dr. Tom’s faith and his enduring love for the Nuba people. The film can be seen on Hulu, iTunes, Amazon. Sony and the BBC.
For his contributions to furthering humanity and his efforts to save people’s lives, Dr. Tom has been awarded the $1.1 million Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity in the 2017 awards ceremony, becoming the second recipient of the annual prize.