I was born and raised in the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. I grew up visiting my mom at the hospital where she worked as a neonatologist so I decided to become a doctor early in life. I completed my undergraduate degree in biology at Boston University and attended medical school at Yale. I knew during my 3rd year of medical school that maternal fetal medicine was the career path for me as I became fascinated by how pregnancy impacts the body’s physiology and every organ system. I completed both my residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology and my subspecialty fellowship in Maternal Fetal Medicine at Penn. During fellowship I was mentored by great faculty to become involved in research and was supported to complete a Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology degree.

I joined the Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine at LVHN in 2005 knowing that I would be working closely with residents. My main focus of clinical interest is maternal cardiac disease. I have been co-director of the Cardio-Obstetrics program (Heart and Pregnancy program) at LVHN since 2010. I was named vice chair of research for the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology last year as part of the OBGYN department’s commitment to support scholarly activities as part of resident education and faculty development.

I truly enjoy teaching residents in high risk clinic, the ultrasound unit and the inpatient perinatal unit. I cannot picture working in a setting without the richness of learning that a residency program brings. I run the research curriculum for our program and mentor residents in research design and writing. I am also involved with medical education in my role as professional development coach for USF’s medical school SELECT Program.