Executive Leadership & Expert Bios

Felipe Lobelo, MD., PhD., FAHA

Medical Epidemiologist, Division of Diabetes Translation, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Dr Lobelo received his medical degree in 2002 from Universidad del Rosario in Bogota, Colombia, where he also completed an Epidemiology specialization in 2004. He earned his PhD in Exercise Science at the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health and in 2010 completed his Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Post-Doctoral Fellowship at CDC, in the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity (DNPAO). He then worked as a Health Scientist in DNPAO and most recently was the Lead Epidemiologist for the Global Health Promotion Office in NCCDPHP, where he worked to advance CDC’s global NCD capacity building.

Dr Lobelo’s interests focus around chronic disease prevention, physical activity, obesity and cardio-metabolic diseases in developed as well as low-to-middle income countries. He has more than 50 peer-reviewed scientific publications, has received grants from the American Heart Association (AHA), the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), and the Colombian Institute for the Development of Science and speaks regularly at national and international conferences about his research. Dr Lobelo has served as an advisor in several scientific panels and chairs the Pediatrics committee for ACSM’s Global Exercise is Medicine Initiative. In 2006 he was the recipient of ACSM’s prestigious Paffenbarger-Blair award for research on physical activity Epidemiology and in 2012 elected as Fellow of the AHA on the Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism Council.

With experience in national and international epidemiological field investigations, he had an active role in CDC's H1N1 response; investigating the outbreak abroad and serving as a media spokesperson for Hispanic/Latino populations. His work with H1N1 took him to the White House, where he served as the CDC representative in the first-ever Spanish Town Hall Meeting alongside President Obama and the U.S. Secretary of Labor and around the nation for vaccine campaign outreach events for at-risk populations and minorities. Dr Lobelo has a special interest in global health and health disparities in both NCDs and infectious diseases and continues to serve as a CDC media spokesperson on issues around NCD prevention. He believes in “preaching what you practice” and strongly advocates for health care providers to become healthy role models for their patients and communities. He is and avid Soccer player and a member of the US Medical Soccer Team. He Lives in Atlanta with his wife, Emily, and their two dogs.