Dr. Julio Frenk Joins Davos Alzheimer's Collaborative Board
Media Contact: Susan Oliver, soliver@DavosAlzheimersCollaborative.org, 703-216-4078
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND — (May 31, 2022) — The Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC), the organization leading an unprecedented global response to Alzheimer’s disease, today announced that it has named Dr. Julio Frenk, President of the University of Miami and former Federal Health Secretary of Mexico, to the Board of Directors — further expanding the global expertise and perspective of its leadership.
“I am extremely pleased to welcome Dr. Julio Frenk to the DAC Board,” said Elias Zerhouni, Founding Board Member, DAC; Professor Emeritus, Johns Hopkins University; and Former Director, National Institutes of Health (NIH). “I have worked with Dr. Frenk since I was the Director of NIH and he was the Federal Secretary of Health for Mexico. I know that the global public health insights that Dr. Frenk will bring to our efforts will be highly instrumental to our success. And his contributions will be especially important now, at a time when the number of people with dementia worldwide is expected to nearly double every 20 years, with much of that increase coming from low-and-middle-income countries.”
A fourth-generation physician with vast experience in public health and academia, Dr. Frenk brings a unique and extremely informed perspective to the DAC Board. Before joining the University of Miami―where he has been president since 2015―he served for seven years as Dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Much of Dr. Frenk’s in-depth understanding of public health, however, stems from his time as Secretary of Health of Mexico—a position he held in his home country from 2000 until 2006. During his term, Dr. Frenk worked successfully to reform Mexico’s health system―expanding access to health care for more than 55 million previously uninsured people. He also served as the founding director general of the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico.
According to George Vradenburg, Founding Chairman, DAC, Dr. Frenk’s appointment comes just as the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative is commencing significant work on early detection in Mexico, which is expected to set the model for how governments around the world can respond to the global increase in the prevalence of Alzheimer’s.
“Joining the DAC board is an honor for me, and I look forward to contributing to the organization’s efforts to unite the world against this devastating disease,” said Dr. Frenk. “I believe that this
collaborative will indeed help to improve the health, education and well-being of people around the world.”
For information about the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative board and supporters, click here.
Learn more about Dr. Julio Frenk by visiting https://president.miami.edu/about/index.html.
About the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative
Launched at the World Economic Forum’s 2021 meeting on The Davos Agenda, DAC is a multi-stakeholder partnership committed to aligning stakeholders with a new vision for our collective global response against the challenges that Alzheimer’s presents to patients, caregivers and health care infrastructures. Convened by the World Economic Forum and the Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer’s Disease (CEOi), and fueled by a mission of service to the estimated 150 million families and half a billion people inevitably impacted by this disease by 2050, DAC is a collaborative for the benefit of all people, in all places.
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