Mohammed A Nurhussein, MD
Dr. Nurhussein is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine and, until his retirement, served as
Chief of Geriatric Medicine at the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical
Center. Under his leadership, the geriatric fellowship program secured a full 5-year accreditation
in 2009. Dr. Nurhussein was born in Adwa and grew up in Gondar, Ethiopia where he received
his primary school education. On orders of Emperor Haile Selassie, he was recruited to the then
newly-established military academy soon after completing high school in Addis Ababa. Upon
graduation, he was one of six Army officers sent by the Emperor to Yugoslavia to study medicine
thus becoming among the first Ethiopian military doctors. He came to the US in 1972 to pursue
further training in internal medicine and pulmonary medicine. The 1974 revolution, which
abolished the millennia-old monarchy, was soon hijacked by the military, which established a
repressive regime eliminating all opposition. Dr. Nurhussein’s brother was among the thousands
of young Ethiopians killed by the regime.
Seeking political asylum in the US, Dr. Nurhussein started a long career as an attending
physician at Kings County Hospital Center, affiliated with SUNY Downstate College of
Medicine where he held a faculty appointment. He has been a mentor and role model to
generations of medical students and residents. His long service at both public institutions has
earned him numerous awards. Dr. Nurhussein has been listed in the Castle-Connolly Best Doctors
in Geriatric Medicine in New York in 2009 and 2010. He is an active member of various civic,
professional and humanitarian organizations, among which are: Member of a Task Force of
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) for the Total Elimination of Landmines; National Chairman
of United African Congress, a Pan African organization that represents the interest of continental
Africans in the United States and plays an advocacy role on matters germane to Africa;
Chairman of the Ethiopian Renaissance Council of the tristate area of NY, NJ and Connecticut
March 2013-March 2015; Chairman of a broad coalition of African Diaspora organizations
against Ebola, led by the United African Congress which was responsible for holding the first
Ebola forum at the UN to raise awareness of the devastation the pandemic was causing in the
West African nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea and underscore the need for global
response on a massive scale; Co-Chairman of a Diaspora Coalition led by The United African
Congress organizing the concert on Ebola held on March 2/2015; Chair, Adwa Hospital Task
Force.
Mohammed A Nurhussein, MD is a Board Member of Ethio-American Doctors Group, Inc. and
Member of the Executive Board of Brooklyn for Peace.