Mana Kasongo, M.D., M.S.

Dr. Mana Lumumba-Kasongo is board-certified emergency physician as well as a nationally published writer.

Born in the then Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Dr. Kasongo has spent much of her adult life in the pursuit of both of her passions--medicine and journalism.

After graduating and receiving a Master’s degree from the Columbia School of Journalism, Dr. Kasongo worked as a freelance reporter for many news venues including InStyle Magazine and Institutional Investor, both in New York City. Additionally, Dr. Kasongo co-founded the Black Star News, a weekly investigative newspaper in New York City, focusing on news that addresses critical issues that especially affect the African American community, including health topics. The Black Star News received seed funding from Bill and Camille Cosby.

While maintaining her journalism roots by continuing to contribute articles to The Black Star focusing on topics such as obesity and diseases prevalent in Black communities airing from poor diet/nutrition, Dr. Kasongo went on to receive her medical degree from Rush Medical School and completed her residency in emergency medicine from New York University in 2006. She has had articles published with ABC news, Newsweek, Real Health Magazine. Some of the topics she has written on include the importance of having ethnically diverse physician population in order to improve communication between doctors and patients in hospitals.

She is also interested in healthcare in developing countries: While at New York University medical school, she wrote a major paper on how economic conditions imposed by powerful international lending institutions damaged health services and healthcare in some African countries by diverting resources away from healthcare delivery.

Dr. Kasongo has also been a featured speaker, including at DePaul University, her alma mater, where she was asked to give the annual Martin Luther King lecture; and where she serves on the advisory committee for the College of Communications. She was also asked to be a featured speaker at the healthcare and writers forum sponsored by George Washington University

Presently, Dr. Kasongo is an attending physician at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, Georgia. Dr. Kasongo is interested in pursuing medical correspondence for both print and broadcast mediums.

Dr. Kasongo has an interest and expertise in emergency health care issues, African and African-American politics and women’s health.