Linda P. Fried

Dr. Linda P. Fried, Dean of the Mailman School of Public Health (since 2008) is a public health leader in the fields of epidemiology and geriatrics. She has dedicated her career to the science of healthy aging and defining how to transition to a world where greater longevity benefits people of all ages.

An internationally renowned scientist, she has done seminal work in defining frailty as a clinical syndrome and illuminating both its causes and the potential for prevention as keys to optimizing health for older adults. Her scientific discoveries have transformed medical care and public health globally, and our understanding of how to build successful societies of longer lives. Under Fried's visionary leadership, the Mailman School continues to be a leader in transforming the health of populations and is one of the top five NIH-funded schools of public health. Fried led the School to build the nation's first program on climate and health and a multidisciplinary program that delivers economic evidence on the value of prevention. Fried opened the Columbia Center for Aging and elevated Columbia's leadership role in research, policy and programming to support healthy cities.