Carlos del Rio

Dr. Carlos del Rio is a Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and a professor of global health and epidemiology at the Rollins School of Emory University. He serves as the Executive Associate Dean of Emory University School of Medicine at Grady Health System and is the co-director and principal investigator of the Emory Center for AIDS Research. His research interests include the early diagnosis of HIV, linkage to and retention in HIV care, and prevention of HIV infection. He has long worked in hospitals and clinics with hard-to-reach populations including substance abuse users to improve outcomes of those infected with HIV and to prevent infection among those at risk. Dr. del Rio also works on emerging infections, epidemics,s and pandemics including the response to the 2009 Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) as a member of the WHO and CDC advisory teams. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. del Rio has been a leader locally and nationally, doing research, developing policies, writing scientific publications, and making media appearances.

Dr. del Rio is a native of Mexico, where he attended medical school at Universidad La Salle, graduating in 1983. He did his internal medicine and infectious diseases fellowship at Emory. Dr. del Rio has received multiple honors and awards including the Emory University Thomas Jefferson Award in 2014 and the “Ohtli Award” given by the Government of Mexico for “distinguished work that benefits the interests of the Mexican community or communities of Mexican origin living in the US". He was selected by the Atlanta Magazine as one of the 55 most influential foreign-born Atlantans in 2007 and as one of the “Atlanta 500 most powerful leaders” in 2020.

Dr. del Rio was elected to the National Academy of Medicine (previously the Institute of Medicine) of the National Academies of Sciences in 2013 and elected as the National Academy of Medicine foreign secretary in 2020.