Dr. Julio Frenk Joins Foundation as Senior Fellow

SEATTLE -- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced today that Dr. Julio Frenk, who served as Secretary of Health of Mexico from 2000 to 2006, has joined the foundation’s Global Health Program as a senior fellow. 

“We are very excited to have Julio as part of our team,” said Dr. Tachi Yamada, president of the Gates Foundation’s Global Health Program. “As a researcher, manager, and leader, Julio has made countless contributions to the field of global health. He will be a wonderful resource for the foundation, its grantees, and our partners.”

As senior fellow, Dr. Frenk will advise the foundation on a range of topics, including initiatives to improve maternal and child health and to strengthen monitoring and evaluation of health programs.

“I share the Gates Foundation’s vision of a world where all people—no matter where they are born—have the opportunity for a healthy life,” said Dr. Frenk. “I am honored to join an organization that I deeply respect and admire.”

Under Dr. Frenk’s leadership as Secretary of Health, Mexico’s maternal mortality rate fell more than 20% in three years, and Mexico became one of only seven countries on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of reducing child mortality by two-thirds by 2015.

Prior to joining the Mexican government, Dr. Frenk held positions as executive director of evidence and information policy at the World Health Organization (WHO), executive vice president of the Mexican Health Foundation, and founding director-general of Mexico’s National Institute of Public Health.

Dr. Frenk obtained his medical degree from the National University of Mexico in 1979. He also holds a Ph.D. in medical care organization and sociology, a Master of Public Health degree, and a Master of Arts degree in sociology.