APCA staff
Dr Suzanne Karefa_ Johnson
Southern Africa Regional Coordinator
Dr Karefa-Johnson received a Bachelor’s of Arts in Biology at Harvard University in Cambridge, USA, and received her Doctor of Medicine degree in 1980 at George Washington University in Washington DC, USA. She completed a paediatric internship at the Children's Hospital National Medical Centre in Washington DC. and did additional training in Family Medicine. Over the past 25 years, she has had extensive experience in clinical practice within the United States Public Health Service in the Caribbean and America, Primary Care Family Practice clinics in Maryland and with FHP where she was the Medical Manager of the FHP Clinic in Compton, California, USA. Her public health experience includes serving as a consultant for the United Nations Development Programme in Freetown, Sierra Leone, where, in a joint venture with the World Health Organization, she helped develop programmes for poverty reduction, maternal and child health and HIV / AIDS education and advocacy. Dr. Karefa-Johnson practised at the Loma Linda Preventive Medicine Group and at Loma Linda University School of Medicine, where she was an Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health. She has served as Medical Director of Magnolia Special Care, Parkside Alzheimer's Special Care, HospiceTouch and Family Hospice Care in Southern California. Before coming to APCA, she was the Corporate Medical Director for Lightbridge Hospice in San Diego, California, USA. A specialist in Hospice and Palliative Medicine, certified as a Diplomate of the American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and, having returned to the continent of her birth, she is committed to excellence in the provision of palliative and end-of-life care within the context of the issues facing the people of Sub-Saharan Africa.