Center for
Global Health

Associate Scholar

Languages: English (native), Spanish (fluent), French (proficient), Arabic (basic)

Bio statement

I am an internal medicine physician, health economist, and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. My focus involves global health and health systems with a focus on immigration and incarceration. I have been published in JAMA, JAMA Network Open, The Lancet, and Health Affairs. I have spoken at the State Department, USAID, the Department of Homeland Security, and have been a consultant for the World Bank.

Recent global health projects

I currently am working on a series of projects using administrative data to look at economic predictors of human resources for health migration and return migration across low- and middle-income countries. I am also looking more broadly a health labor markets and their relationship to migration.

I also am part of a part of a work group of physicians and lawyers that examine health outcomes and health care quality within immigration detention facilities in the United States. This has resulted in a series of papers that have been published

Selected publications

Dekker A, Zeidan A, Nwadiuko J, Jordan E, Parmar P (2024). A call for increased transparency and accountability of health care outcomes in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers. The Lancet Regional Health–Americas 36

Nwadiuko J, Switzer GE, Stern JL, Day C, Paina L (2021). South African physician emigration and return migration, 1991–2017: a trend analysis. Health Policy and Planning 2021, czaa193.

Nwadiuko J, Nishi A, Terp S, Dekker A, Vargas Bustamante A, Parmar P (2023). Solitary Confinement Use in Immigration Detention Before and After the Beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 38 (7), 1789-1790

Lue N, Nwadiuko J, Parmar P, Zeidan A (2023). “Trends in Sexual Assault Against Detainees in US Immigration Detention Centers, 2018-2022”. JAMA Jan 24;329(4):338-339

Nwadiuko J, Varadaraj V, Ranjit A (2018). International Medical Graduates—A Critical Component of the Global Health Workforce. JAMA. 2018;319(8):765-766 

Nwadiuko J, Sander L (2017). Simplifying Care: When is the Treatment Burden Too Much for Patients Living in Poverty? BMJ Quality and Safety, 27:484–7 

Nwadiuko J, Switzer G, Stern J (2016). Giving Back: A mixed methods study of the contributions of US-Based Nigerian physicians to their home country. Globalization and Health; 12(1):33 

Nagarajan, N., Smart, B. and Nwadiuko, J. (2015). Diaspora engagement in humanitarian emergencies and beyond. The Lancet, 386(9998), pp.1015-1016. 

Last Updated: 28 February 2025