Randi R. Diamond, M.D started Palliative Care and Education for Rural Africa (originally Palliative Care for Uganda) in 2013 after visiting the nascent Palliative Care Outreach Team at Naggalama Hospital in rural Uganda. Since then, she has worked closely with the team there, making multiple trips each year since its inception. Dr. Diamond is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, the Founding Director of the Liz Claiborne Center for Humanism in Medicine, and Director of the Program for Global Palliative Education in the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine there. Dr. Diamond is an active clinician educator, practicing inpatient palliative medicine consultation and working with medical students, residents and fellows in palliative care, reflective practice, medical humanities, and global palliative care. She serves on the New York Presbyterian Hospital Ethics Committee. She is committed to her work in global health, traveling regularly to rural Uganda to provide and teach palliative medicine in collaboration with her palliative care colleagues there to broaden awareness and expertise in palliative care among health care workers and the general population.
Prossy Nafula BSN grew up in rural Uganda. Her mother died when she was 12 and Prossy took over the care of her 7 siblings while continuing her education. She began as a nurse at St. Francis Naggalama Hospital in 2007 and has led the palliative care team there since its inception after completing specialty training in palliative care in 2013. She has since been awarded her Bachelors of Nursing. She has presented her work in palliative care and education in Rwanda, Uganda, South Africa, and soon Botswana. She was awarded for her work in the delivery of rural palliative care at the 7th International African Palliative Care and Allied Medical Conference.
Ben Schwarz MD is an internal medicine doctor with a specialty in palliative care medicine. He is the assistant director of the Program for Global Palliative Education at Weill Cornell and coordinates many of the educational programs and research projects between PCERA and the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine. Ben has several years of experience working in global health including projects in Rwanda, Madagascar, and Uganda.
Kaile Eison, DO, made her first trip to Africa as a physician in 2013. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation and Regenerative Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. She is the Medical Director of Global Health, Medical Director of HIV Rehabilitation, and the Associate Medical Director of the CUIMC Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit. During her training, she discovered a love for and cultivated an interest in both global health and infectious diseases. She continues to work in both fields, with interests and ongoing projects in Uganda and Tanzania, leading the residency global health track, a national global health physiatry program, teaching in Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, and continuing to foster a particular interest in the intersectionality of global health and anti-ableism.
Howard Eison MD, an internal medicine physician is co-founder of PCERA (originally Palliative Care for Uganda, inc) along with Randi Diamond MD when it was begun in 2013. He currently serves as its managing director. He is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Weill Cornell Medical College in the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine in New York City. Dr. Eison also volunteers for the Americares Free Clinics in the US providing primary care for uninsured patients. He serves on the roster of the Americares Global Emergency team. Through PCERA, he visits East Africa a few times a year where he provides patient care in the rural communities.
