Updated: March 2026.

Kevin Martínez-Folgar, MD, PhD

Physician-scientist with research in cancer epidemiology, molecular approaches, and data science, focused on understanding why cancer burdens are distributed unequally across populations. Work integrates global cancer surveillance, exposomic and biomarker frameworks, and AI-enabled analytic workflows to generate evidence for policy and clinical practice.

Contact: GitHub · ORCID · Google Scholar

Education & Training

Scientist, 2026–Present Cancer Surveillance Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), WHO — Lyon, France

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, 2025–2026 Metabolic Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics National Cancer Institute (NCI), NIH

Impact Scholar (Postdoctoral Research Fellow), 2023–2025 Center for Global Health Equity, University of Michigan

PhD in Epidemiology, 2019–2023 Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University

MD (Physician), 2010–2016 University of San Carlos of Guatemala

Professional Experience

Scientist, 2026–Present Cancer Surveillance Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), WHO — Lyon, France Global cancer epidemiology, pediatric cancer surveillance, and molecular epidemiology at a global scale.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, 2025–2026 Metabolic Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, NCI/NIH Research on social and environmental determinants of cancer risk and disparities across diverse populations.

Impact Scholar (Postdoctoral Research Fellow), 2023–2025 Center for Global Health Equity, University of Michigan Research on cancer and chronic disease disparities, health equity in Latin American and U.S. contexts.

Graduate Research Fellow, 2019–2023 Urban Health Collaborative, Drexel University SALURBAL study — multilevel analyses of urban environments and health outcomes across Latin American cities.

Researcher, 2017–2019 INCAP Research Center for Prevention of Chronic Diseases (CIIPEC), Guatemala City Stakeholder engagement, chronic disease prevention, hypertension control programs.

Core Methods & Skills

Cancer epidemiology and global cancer surveillance
Cancer disparities and cancer outcomes research
Infection-related and gastrointestinal malignancies
Molecular epidemiology and biomarker approaches
Proteomics
Social epidemiology and urban health
Multilevel and longitudinal analysis
Mortality and life expectancy estimation
Geospatial analysis (GIS)
Causal inference and mediation analysis
R and Python (reproducible analytic workflows)
AI-assisted data capture and analysis
Data visualization and science communication

Selected Publications

Martinez-Folgar K, Alburez-Gutierrez D, Paniagua-Avila A, Ramirez-Zea M, Bilal U. Excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Guatemala. American Journal of Public Health (2021). DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2021.306452
Bilal U, Alazraqui M, Caiaffa W, Lopez-Olmedo N, Martinez-Folgar K, et al. Inequalities in life expectancy in six large Latin American cities from the SALURBAL study. The Lancet Planetary Health (2019). DOI: 10.1016/S2542-5196(19)30235-9
Mullachery P, Rodriguez D, Miranda J, Lopez-Olmedo N, Martinez-Folgar K, et al. Mortality amenable to healthcare in Latin American cities. International Journal of Epidemiology (2022). DOI: 10.1093/ije/dyab137
Alfaro T, Martinez-Folgar K, Vives A, Bilal U. Excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in cities of Chile. Journal of Urban Health (2022). DOI: 10.1007/s11524-022-00658-y
Lima E, Vilela E, Peralta A, …, Martinez-Folgar K, et al. Investigating regional excess mortality during 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in selected Latin American countries. Genus (2021). DOI: 10.1186/s41118-021-00139-1

For a complete and up-to-date list, see Google Scholar or the publications page.

Selected Grants & Funding

Principal Investigator (2024): Race and Ethnic Disparities in Health Outcomes in Guatemala ($5,000)