Dr. Julio Frenk, senior fellow in the Global Health Program, counsels the foundation on global health issues and strategies. He divides his time between Seattle and Mexico City, where he is president of the CARSO Health Institute, a foundation focusing on health-systems innovation in Latin America.
Prior to his work with the foundation, Frenk served as the minister of health of Mexico, where he led an ambitious reform to provide universal health insurance. This program expanded access to quality care and financial protection for 50 million Mexicans who were uninsured.
Frenk’s career has also included executive positions at the World Health Organization and the Mexican Health Foundation. He was the founding director-general of the National Institute of Public Health of Mexico, was a visiting professor at Harvard University, and was awarded the position of national researcher in Mexico. Among the 29 books he has authored are two best-selling novels for youth explaining the functions of the human body.
Frenk holds a medical degree from the National University of Mexico and three advanced degrees from the University of Michigan. He serves as chairman of the board of the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, a research center supported in part by a grant from the foundation.
