Francisco Prieto was born in Chicago, IL as one of nine children of Jorge and Luz Maria Prieto. He has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois at Chicago and received his MD from the University of Minnesota in 1980. He trained in family medicine at the University of Arizona, serving as chief resident in 1983 before serving three years in the National Health Service Corps. He has practiced in Sacramento, California since 1986. 

Dr. Prieto has been a longtime volunteer for the ADA, including serving as president of the Sacramento Community Leadership Board.  An avid bicyclist, he also chaired the Tour de Cure^® committee and currently serves as the chair of the ADA’s National Advocacy Committee. In 2004, when California passed a citizen-led initiative to fund stem cell research, State Treasurer Phil Angelides named him to serve as a patient advocate member of the Independent Citizens Organizing Committee, the governing board of the new state agency created by the initiative, The Calif. Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). 

Dr. Prieto served two eight-year terms at CIRM, where he was a member of the Scientific and Medical Accountability Standards Working Group, the Grants Evaluation Working Group, and chaired the Evaluation Subcommittee.  Dr. Prieto and his wife, Yolanda Valle, MD, have two wonderful children, Miguel and Marisol.