Professional Affiliation

Executive Director of the Federación Colombiana de Enfermedades Raras (FECOER)

Expert Bio

Diego Fernando Gil Cardozo is the Executive Director of the Federación Colombiana de Enfermedades Raras (FECOER), an umbrella organization bringing together 44 patient groups to represent the voice of the rare disease community in Colombia and advocate for better inclusion, care, and treatment within society. 

Diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension 32 years ago, Diego used his technical knowledge and background to focus his career on advocating for the rights of persons living with rare diseases. From 2013-2020, Diego served as the president of Asociación Tejido Azul, an organization that supports patients with pulmonary hypertension and their caregivers. Since 2020, Diego has been leading FECOER to work with national and local policy makers to improve the coverage of care for persons living with a rare disease in Colombia.

Diego also serves as a technical advisor to the Colombian network for access to biotech medications (BIOREDCOL) and is a member of Rare Diseases International (RDI)’s Panel of Experts working to build a pilot for a global clinical network for rare diseases.

Diego trained as an industrial engineer at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Cali and as an administration specialist at the Universidad ICESI.