Dr. Linda P. Fried, MD, MPH, is a global leader in the fields of epidemiology and geriatrics who has dedicated her career to the science of healthy aging and longer health span for all, and creating the knowledge needed for transition to a world where greater longevity benefits people of all ages. An internationally renowned scientist, she has authored over 500 peer-reviewed articles and chapters. Dr. Fried has done seminal work in defining frailty as a medical syndrome, characterizing disability, cardiovascular disease and multimorbidity in older adults, and illuminating their causes and the potential for prevention as keys to optimizing health for older adults.

Under Fried's visionary leadership, the Mailman School continues to be a leader in transforming the health of populations and is ranked among the top five U.S. schools of public health. Fried led the School to build the nation's first program in a school of public health on climate and health; on prevention of mass incarceration; and the first university-wide center on knowledge leadership to prepare for societies of longer lives, the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center.