Emilio A. Russo, MD FAAFP

Emilio A. Russo, MD serves as Chair and Marie Lahasky Professor of Family Medicine at LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. An Associate Professor of Clinical Family Medicine, he also leads the LSU Health Sciences Center Committee on Global Health Education, advancing institutional efforts to integrate global health, health equity, and community engagement into medical education.

Dr. Russo previously served for over a decade as Program Director of the LSU Rural Family Medicine Residency Program in Bogalusa, where he helped shape a nationally recognized model for training full-spectrum family physicians committed to serving rural and underserved populations. His leadership has focused on developing workforce pipelines aligned with community need, strengthening rural training infrastructure, and advancing family medicine’s role as a foundational strategy for improving population health outcomes in Louisiana and beyond.

A graduate of the LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans, where he was an inaugural member of the Rural Scholars Track, Dr. Russo completed his residency at Family Medicine Spokane's Rural Training residency, part of the University of Washington. Prior to joining the LSU faculty in 2013, he practiced in underserved New Orleans communities as part of the post-Katrina rebuilding of the region’s primary care system and as a member of the National Health Service Corps—experiences that continue to inform his commitment to equity-driven care delivery and system redesign.

Dr. Russo’s work centers on advancing health equity, strengthening the rural physician workforce, and building sustainable global health partnerships. He is particularly focused on innovative models of care delivery, optimizing training environments, and the integration of community-engaged education into graduate medical education. Through his leadership, he continues to advocate for policies and programs that position family medicine as essential to addressing disparities and improving health outcomes at scale.

Outside of his professional work, Dr. Russo enjoys spending time with his wife and their four children—Giovanni, Mia, Liliana, and Luca. He enjoys reading, cooking, soccer, and playing the guitar.