Ricardo Mendizabal is the regional director for ICAP in Latin America. Ricardo leads ICAP’s team, providing technical support in this region on HIV prevention, diagnosis, and care.
Prior to this role, Ricardo worked on other PEPFAR-supported projects in Central America, including the implementation of national HIV drug resistance surveys. The outcomes of these surveys were key to inform the national antiretroviral guidelines and to accelerate the transition to WHO-recommended antiretroviral regimens in Central America. In addition, Ricardo provided technical assistance to the Ministries of Health and community-based organizations for the improvement of the quality of care for key populations and people on antiretroviral therapy. Ricardo has contributed to the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of several pilots for HIV prevention, diagnosis, and care in Central America, including the assisted partner notification services, HIV recency testing, pre-exposure prophylaxis, m-health, and differentiated service delivery models. Ricardo also led, in joint effort with community-based organizations, the implementation of the first PrEP service in Central America.
Ricardo is from Guatemala. He holds a Masters in Public Health with emphasis in epidemiology from Universidad Rafael Landivar. Ricardo enjoys spending time with his toddler and being a runner of long distances.