Carlos Aguilar

Dr. Carlos Aguilar is an expert on the pathophysiology, treatment, and management of dyslipidemias and type 2 diabetes in Mexico. He is a physician specializing in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology and holds a doctorate in Medical Research. His main
contributions include: participating in the identification of new genes involved in the pathophysiology of several forms of primary hyperlipidemia; being part of the team that conducted the first genome-wide study to identify the genetic variants that modulate plasma lipid levels in Mexicans; and helping identify the R230C variant of the ABC-A1 transporter (a variant specific to Amerindian populations) as a determinant of HDL cholesterol concentrations in Mexicans, among others.

Since 1996, he holds several positions including deputy chief of the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism of the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition (Mexico) and has been coordinator of the Ethics Committee, Head of the Nutrition Branch, and Head of Research (current position) of the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition since 2012. He is also a member of
the National Academy of Medicine and has held positions such as director of examinations of the Mexican Board of Endocrinology and president of the Mexican Society of Nutrition and Endocrinology.

He is a Level III researcher with the National System of Researchers in Mexico and a Level F researcher with the National Institutes of Health in the U.S. His scientific output is prolific, with more than 570 articles published in peer-reviewed and/or indexed journals and 86,000 citations. His research focuses on the peculiarities of metabolic diseases in Mexican mestizos, such as the pathophysiology of primary dyslipidemias, the epidemiology of type 2 diabetes, the development of predictive models for type 2 diabetes and its comorbidities, and the characterization of the mechanisms by which certain genetic variants are associated with type 2 diabetes. He has been part of El Colegio Nacional since 2025 and received Mexico’s National Science Award in 2018.

Carlos Aguilar joined Tecnológico de Monterrey as a Distinguished Visiting Professor in Epidemiology at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

• Doctorate in Medical Research, Escuela Superior de Medicina, Instituto Politécnico Nacional
• Postdoctoral fellowship at the Division of Atherosclerosis and Lipid Research, Washington University
• Specialty in Endocrinology, Instituto Nacional de la Nutrición
• Specialty in Internal Medicine, Instituto Nacional de la Nutrición
• Physician, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)

• Rojas-Martínez R, Escamilla-Nuñez C, Aguilar-Salinas CA, Castro-Porras L, Romero-Martínez M, Lazcano-Ponce E. Trends in the mortality of diabetes in Mexico from 1998 to 2022: a joinpoint regression and age-period-cohort effect analysis. Public Health. 2023 Dec 5;226:128-137. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2023.10.038
• Basto-Abreu A, López-Olmedo N, Rojas-Martínez R, Aguilar-Salinas CA, Moreno-Banda GL, Carnalla M, Rivera JA, Romero-Martinez M, Barquera S, Barrientos-Gutiérrez T. Prevalencia de prediabetes y diabetes en México: Ensanut 2022. Salud Publica Mex. 2023 Jun 13;65:s163-s168. doi: 10.21149/14832
• Rojas-Martínez R, Escamilla-Núñez C, Castro-Porras L, Basto-Abreu A, Barrientos-Gutiérrez T, Romero-Martínez M, Aguilar-Salinas C. Tamizaje, prevalencia, diagnóstico previo, tratamiento y control de hipertensión, hipercolesterolemia y diabetes en adultos mexicanos. Ensanut 2022. Salud Publica Mex. 2023 Nov 13;65(6, nov-dic):685-696. doi: 10.21149/15060
• Rivera-Alcántara JA, Esparza-Hurtado N, Galán-Ramírez GA, Cruz-Bautista I, Mehta R, Aguilar-Salinas CA, Martagon AJ. A systematic review of biobanks in Latin America: Strengths and limitations for biomedical research. Int J Biol Markers. 2024 Apr 13:3936155241239672. doi: 10.1177/03936155241239672. PMID: 38613331.
• Vargas-Vázquez A, Fermín-Martínez CA, Antonio-Villa NE, Fernández-Chirino L, Ramírez-García D, Dávila-López G, Díaz-Sánchez JP, Aguilar-Salinas CA, Seiglie JA, Bello-Chavolla OY. Insulin resistance potentiates the effect of remnant cholesterol on cardiovascular mortality in individuals without diabetes. Atherosclerosis. 2024 Mar 13:117508. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2024.117508. PMID: 38570208.
• Sohail M, Palma-Martínez MJ, Chong AY, Quinto-Cortés CD, Barberena-Jonas C, Medina-Muñoz SG, Ragsdale A, Delgado-Sánchez G, Cruz-Hervert LP, Ferreyra-Reyes L, Ferreira-Guerrero E, Mongua-Rodríguez N, Canizales-Quintero S, Jimenez-Kaufmann A, Moreno-Macías H, Aguilar-Salinas CA, Auckland K, Cortés A, Acuña-Alonzo V, Gignoux CR, Wojcik GL, Ioannidis AG, Fernández-Valverde SL, Hill AVS, Tusié-Luna MT, Mentzer AJ, Novembre J, García-García L, Moreno-Estrada. Mexican Biobank advances population and medical genomics of diverse ancestries. Nature. 2023 Oct 11. doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06560-0 

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