Carlos A. Luciano, MD, FANA, FAAN, FAANEM
Professor and Chair
As Chair of the Neurology Section, let me be the first to welcome you to our website. Established in 1958, the Neurology Section has a long history of providing expert neurological care and real-life, hands-on training to our best students, to serve the Puerto Rican population and the neighboring Caribbean. The majority of patients served by the Neurology Section are Hispanic, representing a diversity of socioeconomic backgrounds, living in rural and urban areas. This provides us with a unique perspective and expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of neurologic diseases that are overrepresented in Hispanic populations.
Strategic Location Advantage.
The University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine is the first and oldest LCME-accredited medical school in Puerto Rico and is part of the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus (UPR-MSC), located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The School of Medicine, and the Neurology Department, is located within the largest Health Science Academic Institution in Puerto Rico. This provides students, faculty, researchers, and patients access to multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary expertise, with the support from professionals from a multitude of healthcare areas.
The Neurology Section is located in the Adult University Hospital of the Puerto Rico Medical Center, the main referral center for the whole Island of Puerto Rico. Affiliated with the San Juan VA Hospital and the San Juan City Hospital, the Neurology Section provides care to a large number of patients with a broad range of neurological diseases.
Access to the clinical and research infrastructure of the UPR-MSC and our affiliated hospitals and clinics, we are able to provide specialized neurological care to a large number of patients, and the best hands-on, real-life training in clinical neurology. Our largely Hispanic patient population is frequently burdened with a wide range of neurologic diseases, at all possible stages. Being able to work with these patients, our medical students and neurology residents and fellows have unique opportunities to develop exceptional clinical skills in the tradition of clinical neurology. Our graduates are recognized as clinicians, with the ability of diagnosing and treating patients in multiple clinical and working scenarios.
Our Faculty.
Our Neurology Section attracts an incredibly special type of faculty. They each have responded to the call of social responsibility, with a special commitment to serve patients who have the greatest need, and to help shape the next generation of neurologists that will serve our population. Our faculty is committed to working in a resource-limited environment while making a huge impact on the lives of patients, often with the most basic interventions.
Our faculty represent all of the major neurology subspecialties; many of our faculty have trained in some of the best neurology residency and fellowship programs in the mainland. The Neurology Section represents the largest multi-specialty neurology group in the whole Island of Puerto Rico. We are a closely knitted program that provides the warmth of a large family, working together to make an impact and take personal care of each of our residents, instilling in them a sense of compromise and responsibility to those in need.
Our Training Programs.
The Neurology Residency program is fully ACGME-accredited and led by Dr. Carmen Serrano. This program provides superb hands-on training in clinical neurology through committed and experienced local and US-trained academic neurologists, representing all the major neurology subspecialties. Our residents acquire extensive clinical experience in a wide variety of settings that range from a tertiary hospital-based care such as the Adult University Hospital and the San Juan Veterans Administration Hospital to Community Hospitals such as the San Juan City hospital.
Our Section also provides a fully accredited ACGME approved fellowship program in neuromuscular medicine, led by Dr. Gishlaine Alfonso, and staffed by three additional experienced and fellowship-trained board-certified neuromuscular medicine subspecialists. The Neurology Fellowship Program is located near the Pediatric University Hospital, where we have a close collaboration with the Pediatric Neurology Fellowship program, providing an additional superb experience and access to the largest pediatric hospital in Puerto Rico.
Our Research.
Our Section is actively engaged in clinical and translational research in neurological conditions that are relevant to our population, and in collaboration with local and extramural investigators. At the present time our faculty is engaged in work in the areas of NeuroHIV, neuromuscular diseases, Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, and have taken part in studies related to some of the most recent emerging infectious diseases such as ZIKA virus infection. Our faculty and residents have access to federally funded infrastructure resources such as the Alliance, an NIH-funded IDeA Clinical and Translational Research Infrastructure Program.
The faculty and residents of UPR, School of Medicine’s Neurology Section are true believers; dedicated to the mission of being in the front lines of health care, helping those that often require the most help but often are the least able to access it.
¡Bienvenidos a nuestra Sección!
Carlos A. Luciano, MD, FANA, FAAN, FAANEM
Professor and Chair