Dr. F. Ramzi Asfour: A Passion for Medicine, A Talent for Truth

Dr. Asfour earned his Bachelor of Science in genetics at UC Davis before attending New York Medical College, then completed his residency in internal medicine at California Pacific Medical Center and a fellowship in infectious diseases at UC San Diego.

In the years that followed, he amassed an impressive portfolio of credentials and experiences, including licensure in more than 10 states and faculty positions at top hospitals and medical schools. He has been a practicing clinician, a public health advocate, a mentor, and a problem solver.

But perhaps most notably, he has seen medicine through multiple lenses: global health, private practice, rural health, big city tertiary care, telehealth innovation, outbreak management, and now as an expert witness.

“There were three things I dreamed of when I was younger,” he says. “One was working for the World Health Organization, one was having a Swiss bank account, and the other was owning a BMW. I achieved all three, though only the WHO job lived up to expectations. The bank account I got primarily because I was living in Geneva at the time and only had $2,000 in it, and the BMW was 13 years old, had a dent in the passenger door, and smelled like gasoline inside when you drove it.”

While working for WHO, he traveled across many English-speaking parts of Africa—Ghana, Uganda, Botswana, Tanzania, Lesotho, Kenya, South Africa. “I’ve always felt a pull toward Africa,” Asfour shares. “I’ve never quite understood why Africa resonated with me so strongly. But one thing was clear, I wanted to be an infectious diseases doctor, in part so I could go where the need was greatest. Working in Ghana, during the HIV crisis, I witnessed the daily struggle for basic medical attention—it left an imprint on me.”

Back home in San Francisco, the struggles were different—homelessness, substance abuse—but it reaffirmed for him that the need for compassionate, competent care is universal.

He began working to address the “deserts” of care. “I developed my telemedicine infectious disease practice as a way to bridge the gap for rural communities in California,” he says.

Capsid Consulting, another of his companies, helps nursing homes improve infection prevention and care for residents—the impact of its work was most clearly seen during COVID. This all set the stage for the creation of Praxis Infectious Diseases—a clinical care company—and ultimately Praxis Medical Experts, which would become a game-changer for attorneys seeking physician expert witnesses.