About Me
Sylvia Owusu-Ansah MD, MPH, FAAP
At-A-Glance
Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine — Associate Vice Chair of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion — EMS Medical Director (MD command - 22)
Co-Founder, Akoma United Inc.
Founder, EMbrace Media and Consulting LLC
-
Dr. Sylvia Owusu-Ansah is a pediatrician who specializes in pediatric emergency medicine and emergency medical services (EMS) at UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, where she has cared for countless children. She holds several titles, including Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine, Medical Director of EMS and Prehospital Medicine, Associate Vice Chair of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Pediatric Liaison for the Emergency Medicine Department's Division of EMS (Joint Appointment).
With over a decade of clinical experience, Dr. Owusu-Ansah has treated children in emergency settings at some of the busiest children's hospitals in the country, which serve an annual average of 80,000 to 100,000 pediatric patients in their emergency departments alone. She serves on national EMS committees and has authored national policy statements and technical reports aimed at providing optimal care for children in the EMS environment. Additionally, she has dedicated numerous hours to training EMS personnel across various regions, including rural, suburban, and major urban areas such as Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Pittsburgh, with a focus on evidence-based pediatric emergency care. Dr. Owusu-Ansah has also developed curricula for both pediatric and adult emergency care for EMS personnel.
-
Dr. Owusu-Ansah studied at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and completed two medical fellowships in pediatric emergency medicine and emergency medical services at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She also earned a Master’s in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, focusing on Health Policy. Her extensive qualifications make her one of the few experts in her field.
As a leading national expert in pediatric prehospital emergency care, Dr. Owusu-Ansah holds various leadership roles at both local and regional levels. She serves as the EMS for Children Medical Advisor for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Furthermore, she is a member of the certification board for EMS clinicians with the National Registry of EMTs and has a federal appointment with the National EMS Advisory Council within the Department of Transportation.
-
Dr. Owusu-Ansah advocates for justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion in various academic areas and within the community. She serves as the Associate Vice Chair of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Department of Pediatrics at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Her contributions to the JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) space have earned her numerous awards, including the inaugural Department of Pediatrics JEDI Award. She was key in securing a $25 million institutional-wide loan repayment program for faculty members focused on DEI work. Additionally, she co-authored the first anti-racism statement in the history of UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and participated in the hospital’s peaceful protest, White Coats for Black Lives.
-
Throughout her career, Dr. Owusu-Ansah has prioritized developing curricula and educating EMS personnel. Notably, she was the lead author of a national policy statement on pediatric prehospital readiness. During her EMS fellowship, she served as a physician during the presidential inauguration. She created a pediatric emergency care curriculum for agencies such as the United States Secret Service, U.S. Marshals, Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services. Furthermore, Dr. Owusu-Ansah served as the Assistant Medical Director of Howard County, Maryland, overseeing a population of 325,650, approximately 25% of whom are children under 18.
While living in the Washington, D.C. area for over a decade, she met with congressional members on Capitol Hill to support the passage of legislation related to children's health. Her efforts include advocating for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), maintaining Medicaid services for children with special health conditions, ensuring the availability of epinephrine in schools to treat anaphylaxis, providing pediatric medical kits for airlines, and promoting loan repayment programs to encourage pediatricians to work in underserved regions, among other initiatives.
-
Dr. Owusu-Ansah is a medical advisor to the Emmy Award Winning television series streaming on HBO Max, The Pitt. She also helped produce a short film titled "In Good Hands" through the University of Pittsburgh, collaborating with executive producer Carl Kurlander and screenwriter Yasmine Crawley. The award-winning film has sold out at local screenings in Pittsburgh and was showcased at the Paramount/CBS studios in New York City.
-
In the community, Dr. Owusu-Ansah is recognized for her impactful initiatives. She has taught CPR to over 1,000 community members, including all 500 Division I Pitt athletes, and her training has saved lives. Furthermore, she co-led a middle school pathway program, enabling more than 300 students to learn life-saving skills and gain exposure to healthcare. She published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine highlighting her community-engaged CPR work. Recognizing her ongoing dedication, she received the regional American Heart Association Health Diversity and Equity Award. At the Annual R.I.S.E. Scholarship Awards, she was honored as the local Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) community honoree in the Health & Wellness category.
-
Dr. Owusu-Ansah has written extensively on children’s health through blogs, op-eds, articles, and podcasts. Various media outlets, including The New York Times, Business Insider, Huffington Post, The Hill, The Baltimore Sun, Parade Magazine, Romper.com, HealthyChildren.org, and U.S. News and World Report have also interviewed her.
In addition, Dr. Owusu-Ansah has lectured in numerous academic settings and institutions and at regional and national conferences on the importance of pediatric emergency healthcare and emergency medical services.
-
The daughter of Ghanaian immigrants, Dr. Owusu-Ansah is the creator, CEO, and co-founder of Akoma United, a nonprofit organization providing life-saving skills to underserved communities, with a global initiative in Ghana. In its first year, her organization received an award for excellence in healthcare. She is married with two beautiful daughters, who have greatly aided her in becoming a better pediatrician and person.
To book speaking engagements, lectures, talks, and interviews, please contact Shahnti Brooks at: shahnti@human-content.com
My Path to Influence
A daughter of Ghanian immigrants, from an early age I wanted to become a doctor and follow the footsteps of my father, who served in Namibia for WHO to help tackle the HIV/AIDs epidemic. While living in South Africa and attending an international school, I befriended many students of all races, creed and color.
I was in Cape Town in 1992 when Nelson Mandela was released from prison. We wore “Free South Africa” T-shirts and joined the crowds celebrating in the streets. Mandela would soon become the first Black president of South Africa, dismantling Apartheid and ushering in a new era of reconciliation. This time I lived in Namibia greatly influenced how I see the world and the amazing diversity of its people.
The world felt so full of promise as 2019 came to an end. When 2020 rolled around, I was devastated about the news of my basketball hero, Kobe Bryant’s death. But that was just the start of a turbulent time in the world. Reports of a mysterious virus would soon, and literally, spread at extremely high rates. During this COVID-19 year, like many of us, I examined my own sense of purpose and place in the world.
Somewhere, in all that grief and chaos, I found my voice. I wrote. I spoke. I challenged colleagues and community members to see the ways health care disparities were killing people. I penned a poem, “Will You Take Care of My Children?”—a gut-wrenching plea to set aside bias, to remember our shared humanity.
People started to listen. My advocacy work caught the attention of hospital leadership. They asked me to serve as the inaugural Chair of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) for the National Association of EMS Physicians.
Then my life would forever change when I agreed to become one of the first black physicians in Pennsylvania to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. My photo appeared in the media around the world.
Behind the scenes, I started writing my book, In Good Hands, because I believed my story could help my community and nation see diversity as a beautiful thing and not a divisive one. Seemingly overnight, my photo that appeared in the Associated Press taking the vaccine, caught the attention of executive producer Carl Kurlander, who was in Pittsburgh and wanted to interview me for a documentary.
Carl became interested in my story and we started dreaming of making a short film. This led to submitting a script (co-written with Yasmin Crawley) for a competition, called The Pitch Project. We won, and over the next few years, we produced the short film, In Good Hands, which is now a semi-finalist for the New York Independent Film Festival 2025.
Between my advocacy for healthcare disparities, COVID-19 vaccine exposure and related community outreach, I was invited to serve as a medical advisor to a new television series, featuring Noah Wyle, called The Pitt. The aim was to depict a realistic viewpoint of hospital’s emergency department. The impact of the on audiences as well as medical community was studied by researchers at USC’s Norman Lear Center. Read the results here.
In 2024, I started a “Save a Life” campaign to teach student athletes, even children how to do CPR. My article, published in the New England Journal of Medicine shares the power of learning this skill. Last year, we taught hundreds of student-athletes at the University of Pittsburgh, which would be utilized by a teammate during a soccer game to save the life of a fellow teammate.
My new book will publish in late 2025/early 2026. I’m excited to reveal my journey and many of the stories from the emergency department that have shaped my life and career — which includes the discovery of having breast cancer in September 2025.
Toured New York City, Atlanta, Dallas and Los Angeles in 2025. Learn more here.
