Kofi Essel, MD, MPH
Kofi Essel, MD, MPH
Children's National Health System & George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences
Kofi D. Essel, MD, MPH, FAAP, is a board-certified community pediatrician at Children’s National Health System in Washington, D.C. Dr. Essel also serves as Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, the Director of the George Washington University School of Medicine’s Community/Urban Health Scholarly Concentration, and Director of the Clinical Public Health Summit on Obesity.
Dr. Essel has dedicated his career to advocacy and research around healthcare training, health disparities, and community engagement, with a special interest and national recognition in the areas of addressing obesity and food insecurity in families. Dr. Essel serves as a key contributor and consultant to multiple local/national food & nutrition organizations. He was nationally recognized by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation for helping to create an innovative curriculum to enhance pediatric resident trainee skills on obesity management. He also assisted with developing a national toolkit for pediatric providers to better identify and screen for food insecurity in their clinical settings while serving as an anti-hunger advocate at D.C. Hunger Solutions and the Food Research & Action Center. He is actively engaged in population health initiatives that strengthen community-clinical ties to improve the prevention, management, and treatment of obesity in marginalized areas in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Essel grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, and attended the infamous Little Rock Central High School. He earned a BS from Emory University with a focus on Human Biology/Anthropology, and earned his Medical Degree and Masters in Public Health in Epidemiology from GWU. He completed pediatric residency training in a select community advocacy track and further academic training in a specialized General Academic Pediatric fellowship at Children’s National. Dr. Essel is happily married and has 2 young children that keep him very busy and active.