Emory University named Carlos del Rio (86MR, 88FM), the executive associate dean for Emory at Grady Memorial Hospital, as interim dean for the Emory School of Medicine and interim chief academic officer for Emory Healthcare.
Del Rio, who is also a distinguished professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, will begin his term on March 1. He will replace School of Medicine Dean Vikas Sukhatme, who will be stepping down from his role this March after five years to be a full-time faculty member in the medical school.
University President Gregory Fenves wrote in a Jan. 27 press release that del Rio is an “eminent global leader in medicine and public health.”
“He understands the role of our School of Medicine, and will build on the accomplishments of Dean Sukhatme who set this school on a course for continued success in its tripartite mission of education, research and clinical care,” Fenves wrote.
Del Rio is the co-director of the Emory Center for AIDS Research and co-principal investigator of both the Emory-Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Clinical Trials Unit and the Emory Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit. He is also a professor of global health and a professor of epidemiology in the Rollins School of Public Health.
Previously, del Rio served as chief of the Emory Medical Service at Grady Memorial Hospital from 2001 to 2009 and chair of the Hubert Department of Global Health in Rollins from 2009 to 2019.
Del Rio has been a member of the Emory community for 40 years. His spouse, Jeannette Guarner (87MR, 89FM), is also a professor at the medical school and vice chair for faculty affairs in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.
In an email to the Wheel, del Rio wrote that as a Hispanic physician, he will prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion. His work has included internationally improving clinical care and outcomes for marginalized populations through research, policy development and disseminating scientific findings about global public health crises, primarily the HIV and COVID-19.
Del Rio advised municipal, state and national leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms awarded del Rio the Phoenix Award, the City of Atlanta’s highest honor, for his work during the COVID-19 pandemic. He currently serves on the national advisory committee of the COVID Collaborative.
The CDC’s Office of Minority Health and Health Equity named del Rio the Winter 2021 Health Equity Champion. That same year, the Carnegie Corporation of New York recognized del Rio as a “Great Immigrant, Great American.”
During the 2009 swine flu pandemic, del Rio was a member of the World Health Organization Influenza A(H1N1) Clinical Advisory Group and of the CDC Influenza A(H1N1) Task Force.
Outside of Emory, del Rio serves as the president of Infectious Diseases Society of America and chairs the Scientific Advisory Board of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. He was elected as the international secretary of the National Academy of Medicine in 2020.
Last year, del Rio was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a prestigious learned society.
Del Rio is also accomplished in medical writing, serving as NEJM Journal Watch Infectious Diseases HIV/AIDS chief section editor. With 30 book chapters and over 500 scientific papers under his belt, del Rio is a member of the Journal of AIDS, Vaccines and Global Public Health editorial board.
In the press release, Executive Vice President for Health Affairs Ravi Thadhani noted that del Rio is committed to educating the next generation of physicians and protecting the health of people around the world.
“Under Dr. del Rio’s direction and leadership, Emory School of Medicine will continue to be a leader in academic medicine and further enhance the Woodruff Health Sciences Center’s mission to improve health outcomes, cure diseases and save lives,” Thadhani wrote.
The University awarded del Rio the Thomas Jefferson Award, which is the highest award given to a faculty or staff member who has significantly enriched the intellectual and civic life of the Emory community, in 2014, as well as the Emory University Marion V. Creekmore Achievement Award for Internationalization in 2007.
After completing his internal medicine and infectious diseases residencies at Emory, del Rio returned to his native country of Mexico, where he served as the executive director of the National AIDS Council of Mexico from 1992 to 1996.
In 2016, the Government of Mexico presented del Rio with the Ohtli Award for his work to improve the lives of people of Mexican origin living in the United States.
Del Rio expressed excitement for his new position.
"I am honored and humbled to serve as interim dean of Emory [School of Medicine]," del Rio wrote. "As an international medical graduate who first came to Emory as a visiting medical student in 1982 and joined the faculty in 1996 I am committed to the institution and to is students, trainees, faculty and staff."
Update (1/29/22 at 6:38 p.m.): This article was updated to include comments from Emory School of Medicine Interim Dean Carlos del Rio.
