Fernando Zacarías

Country of birth: Mexico

Country of residence: United States

Areas of expertise within Global Health: Practical and critical approaches to scientific knowledge and interventions in Global Health; Disease Prevention and Control, Family and Community Health; Health Policy and Management; “trade secrets” for a successful career,

Education:

MD (UNAM), Infectious Diseases (Emory), MPH, DrPH (Harvard) International Health Policy and Management and Tropical Public Health.

Professional experience

Visiting Scientist (CDC), Coordinator, Regional AIDS Program (Pan American Health Organization – PAHO/WHO), Senior Policy Advisor, Family and Community Health; Acting Chief, Health Analysis and Statistics; Technical Coordinator, “Health in the Americas”, Editions of 2007 and 2012 (PAHO/WHO); Director of Operations, Global Health International Advisors; Principal Mentor and Program Coordinator, MultiPOD Mentoring.

Languages: English, Spanish, Danish, working Portuguese and French.

Countries in which Mentor has worked: Mexico, Denmark, USA, all 46 countries and territories of the Americas, except French Guiana, Cayman Islands, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Why do you want to be a Mentor?

First: Because students and young professionals (and everybody else) need to recognize and accept their talent and hidden potential; question current knowledge; nurture their intellect and wisdom; overcome their doubts about their own worth, and I can help them with that.

 Second: Because this new generation of passionate and committed students and young professionals will mentor the next generation of mentees that, in turn, will mentor the next…and the next.

 Third: Because we need a multinational and multidisciplinary critical mass of leaders, innovators, and practitioners who will be in charge of the health, development, and environment of our planet and its people in the XXI century.

Advice to someone entering the field of Global Health

Advice to anybody entering any field:

“Be useful and selfless: Make your life count and don’t live your life only for you”.