Thelma Alafia Samuels

Biography

T. Alafia Samuels is currently Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medical Sciences, UWI Cave Hill and CARICOM Consultant in Chronic Disease Prevention and Control. She is a UWI medical graduate, with a Masters in Public Health and a PhD in Chronic Diseases Epidemiology, both graduate degrees awarded with honors, from Johns Hopkins University. Past employment include Advisor in Chronic Diseases at PAHO/WHO, Director of Outcomes at XL Health, a Disease Management company in Baltimore MD, and 20 years with the Ministry of Health Jamaica managing Primary Health Care Services. She is currently a member of the Barbados National NCD Commission, appointed by the Hon. Minister of Health and is External Examiner for the MPH at University of Technology Jamaica. For the last two years she held the position of Director of the MPH programme at UWI Cave Hill.

Research Interest

Alafia has a strong interest in the role of behavioural and clinical interventions in the prevention and control of NCDs, particularly diabetes and hypertension. Past research has investigated the determinants of poor compliance with diabetes and hypertension treatment, and in particular the impact of physician factors. Current work includes developing and evaluating workplace based initiatives, and evaluating the impact of an intervention programme for schools in Barbados.