T. Alafia Samuels, MBBS, MPH, PhD

Professor Samuels is an honorary professor at the George Alleyne Chronic Disease Research Centre, Deputy Dean for Research and Graduate Programmes, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill campus Barbados and co-Principal Investigator of the IDRC (International Development Research Centre, Canada) funded evaluation of the CARICOM Heads of Government 2007 NCD Summit Declaration. She is a medical doctor, trained at UWI Mona. She holds a MPH (Masters in Public Health) and a PhD in Chronic Disease Epidemiology, both degrees awarded with honors from Johns Hopkins University.

Past employment includes Advisor in Chronic Diseases at PAHO/WHO, Director of Outcomes at XL Health, and managing Primary Health Care Services in the South East Region of the Ministry of Health, Jamaica.

She is currently a member of the Barbados National NCD (Non Communicable Diseases) Commission and the principal author of the Barbados Ministry of Health Strategic Plan of Action for the Prevention and Control of NCDs 2015-2019 as well as the CARICOM Regional NCD Plan 2010-2015.

Research interests

Her research interests include diabetes quality of care, workplace wellness programmes, NCD policy, planning, monitoring and evaluation, including the role of behavioural and clinical interventions in the prevention and control of diabetes and hypertension.

Selected publications

Samuels TA, Kirton J, Guebert J. Monitoring compliance with high-level commitments in health: the case of the CARICOM Summit on Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases. Bull World Health Organ. 2014 Apr 1;92(4):270-276B.
Samuels TA, Guell C, Legetic B, Unwin N. Policy initiatives, culture and the prevention and control of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the Caribbean. Ethn Health. 2012;17(6):631-49.
Hospedales CJ, Samuels TA, Cummings R, Gollop G, Greene E. Raising the priority of chronic noncommunicable diseases in the Caribbean. Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2011 Oct;30(4):393-00.
Morris E, Unwin N, Ali E, Brathwaite-Graham L, Samuels TA. Chronicnon-communicable disease risk factor survey 2010 among University of the West Indies staff at Cave Hill, Barbados. West Indian Med J. 2011 Jul;60(4):452-8.
Samuels, T. Alafia, Fraser, Henry "Caribbean Wellness Day: Mobilizing a Region for Chronic Noncommunicable Disease Prevention and Control" Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2010 Dec;28(6):472-9.