Tom Frieden
Dr. Tom Frieden served as Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Commissioner of the New York City Health Department. His work made New York City’s tuberculosis control program and overall health department models for the world, established effective programs in India, and improved morale, effectiveness, and impact at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Tom Frieden’s influential publications have identified the what, how, and why of action to improve health.
Dr. Tom Frieden is a physician with advanced training in internal medicine, infectious disease, public health, and epidemiology. Over the past 25 years:
As Director, led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) work that ended the Ebola epidemic, launched an initiative that will prevent 500,000 heart attacks and strokes, sounded the alarm and accelerated progress addressing the epidemic of opioid use, and increased effective action on the front lines to find and fight winnable battles and protect and improve health in the United States and around the world (2009-2017).
As the first Director of International Health Programs of Bloomberg Philanthropies, designed and launched the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, a program that has prevented more than 35 million deaths around the world (2006-2009, pro bono).
As Health Commissioner, led health transformation in New York City, increasing life expectancy by 3 years, preventing more than 100,000 deaths from smoking, and spurring national and global action on, among other areas, better epidemiologic understanding and control of public health problems including HIV, tobacco control, nutrition, as well as the integration of health care and public health. Reorganized to increase revenues and optimize health impact (2002-2009).
Guided the Indian tuberculosis control program to improve diagnosis and treatment rapidly, creating the largest and fastest expanding effective tuberculosis control program in the world and saving at least 3 million lives (1996-2002).
Led control of the largest outbreak of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis ever to occur in the United States by creating a tuberculosis control program that is a model for the United States and the world, with intensive community outreach, clinical excellence, effective integration of health care and public health, ongoing analysis, and publication of key epidemiologic and program aspects, and rigorous accountability (1990-1996).