I am a Board-certified Internal Medicine and Geriatrics Physician. Professor at the School of Medicine of the Medical Sciences Campus of the University of Puerto Rico (MSC UPR). I mentor students, IM residents, and Geriatrics fellows on their medical education and research projects. I focus my career on the care and study of the elderly and their most common syndromes. I work directly with Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers. As a result of my daily experience, I developed for the first time in Puerto Rico a campaign called “Un Café por el Alzheimer”: An Innovative Awareness Approach in Puerto Rico, which has not been interrupted since its inception in 2014. During these educational interventions, I realized that the diagnosis of this condition is late and that more early diagnostic tools are needed to perform early interventions that improve the quality of life of our Alzheimer’s patients. I attend the Alzheimer’s Association conferences annually and have seen how oral cavity pathogens and the gut microbiota have taken importance in developing this disease in the literature. Amazingly, the Oral-Gut Microbiome is related to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s Dementia, defining the so-called Gut-Brain Axis.
An accurate profile for AD diagnosis is the dream of many. Research is towards improving diagnostic biomarkers. The Hispanic population, especially in PR, is underrepresented, and more studies targeting our population’s needs are imperative. I am the PI of an NIH-granted supplement titled: Association of Gut Microbiota with Alzheimer’s Disease in Puerto Ricans, which will be the steppingstone for future investigations. Besides, I am the Geriatrics consultant for the Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program, a grant awarded by HRSA to the Graduate School of Public Health. I collaborate with the organization and scientific committee for the 2019 First Latinos and Alzheimer Disease Symposium, sponsored by the Alzheimer Association of the United States. With my knowledge, vast experience, and commitment to education about Alzheimer’s Dementia, I feel like a qualified physician in the Medical Sciences Campus, UPR, to work on new projects and teaching experiences toward the health improvement of elderly Puerto Ricans and contribute to the benefit of the Alzheimer’s Dementia community with unexplored research areas related to the Global gap in protocols for early diagnosis and therapeutic interventions.
University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine