25 Facts About Tom Frieden

Tom Frieden serves as president and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, a global initiative working to prevent epidemics and cardiovascular disease.

Tom Frieden was the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and he was the administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry from 2009 to 2017, appointed by President Barack Obama.

Tom Frieden was a community organizer for the Center for Health Services at Vanderbilt University in 1982, before he started studying medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and graduated with an MD degree in 1986.

From 1990 to 1992, Tom Frieden worked as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer assigned by CDC in New York City.

From 1995 to 2001, Tom Frieden worked as a technical advisor for the World Bank, health and population offices.

From 1996 to 2002, Tom Frieden worked in India, as a medical officer for the World Health Organization on loan from the CDC.

Tom Frieden helped the government of India implement the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program.

Tom Frieden served as Commissioner of Health of the City of New York from 2002 to 2009.

Tom Frieden introduced the city's first comprehensive health policy, Take Care New York, which targeted ten leading causes of preventable illness and death for public and personal action.

Tom Frieden believed the measure would encourage physicians to offer HIV tests during routine medical care, as the CDC recommended.

Tom Frieden worked to raise awareness about diabetes in New York City, particularly among pregnant women, and established an involuntary, non-disclosed hemoglobin A1C diabetes registry which tracks patients' blood sugar control over several months and reports the information to treating physicians to help them provide better care.

Tom Frieden was prominently involved in the US and global response to the West African outbreak of Ebola.

In 2017, Tom Frieden started leading an initiative called "Resolve to Save Lives" to prevent cardiovascular disease and epidemics.

Tom Frieden appeared widely in US and global media during the COVID-19 pandemic and became a leading voice sharing science-based analysis of the pandemic via Twitter, while advocating for increased pandemic preparedness, vaccine equity, and stronger public health systems.

Tom Frieden appeared on many news shows including The Today Show, CBS News, CNN, PBS, Good Morning America, BBC World News, MSNBC, and was quoted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, STAT, The Hill, and published articles in leading outlets including on pandemic preparedness, global health security, primary health care, and cardiovascular health.

Tom Frieden argued against both broad-based lockdowns and school closures and supported mask use, selective indoor closures when hospitals were overwhelmed pre-vaccine, and COVID-19 vaccination.

Tom Frieden co-authored a commentary with Former CDC Directors Jeffrey Koplan, David Satcher, Julie Gerberding, and Richard Besser calling for public health to lead the response to the pandemic, and for a reform of the CDC and US public health system.

Tom Frieden identified CDC errors during the COVID-19 pandemic and joined other former directors to support a more robust CDC and resist calls to dismantle the agency.

Tom Frieden suggested ways forward to rebuild trust in and effectiveness of public health, including the need to improve disease tracking systems, minimize mandates, and make progress on issues that matter to communities.

Tom Frieden has argued that the main lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic are the need for a public health renaissance, robust primary health care, and resilient individuals and communities.

Tom Frieden has noted that cardiovascular disease kills far more people than Covid, and called for more action to reduce its three leading preventable causes: tobacco use, hypertension, and air pollution.

Tom Frieden developed the "Public Health Impact Pyramid," an influential framework that organizes public health interventions from societal changes to individual counseling based on their population impact and effort needed.

In global health policy, Tom Frieden has advocated for restructuring World Bank health spending, eliminating cholera as both an immediate priority and preparation for future pandemics, and developing epidemic-ready primary health care systems.

Tom Frieden has called for more aggressive responses to emerging threats such as avian influenza.

Tom Frieden has two children, and his brother, Jeff Tom Frieden, is a political scientist.