Professor Sebastiana Kalula

Sebastiana Kalula is an Emeritus Associate Professor and specialist physician in Medicine and Geriatric Medicine at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. She is the director of The Albertina and Walter Sisulu Institute of Ageing in Africa (IAA) and the Co-Director of the International Longevity Centre South Africa (ILCSA), a member of the ILC Global Alliance, within the IAA. The ILC Global Alliance is composed of members in all continents, in both high- and low-income countries.

After medical training in Zambia, she obtained Membership of the Royal College of Physicians (UK) and specialised in Geriatric Medicine in the United Kingdom and at the University of Cape Town. She holds an MMed degree in Medicine, an MPhil degree in Epidemiology and a PhD from UCT. She is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (UK).

Her current research interests include falls in older persons, HIV and ageing, quality of and safety in health care for older adults, and physical and cognitive functioning. She has published approximately fifty journal articles, book chapters, etc., most recently on older persons’ experiences in accessing primary health care in Cape Town and a situational analysis of NCDs and COVID-19 in older persons in South Africa.

Kalula is a member of national and international associations and societies with a specific interest in ageing, including the International Longevity Centre Global Alliance (ILC-GA), the Global Aging Research Network (GARN) of the International Association of Geriatrics and Gerontology (IAGG), the African Research on Ageing Network (AFRAN) and the South African Geriatrics Society (SAGS).