Milena Rodriguez Alvarez, MD, PhD

Dr. Rodriguez Alvarez is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine in Rheumatology at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University and an Associate Director of Medical Safety, Inflammation at Boehringer Ingelheim. She graduated with the highest honors from her medical degree and completed an immunology residency at Havana University, followed by an internal medicine residency at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center. She then pursued a combined rheumatology fellowship and PhD in neurosciences at SUNY Downstate and completed the Translational Program of Health Disparities Research Training (TRANSPORT) program at the Brooklyn Health Disparities Center.

Dr. Rodriguez Alvarez’s academic, clinical, and research interests include medical education, epigenetic modifications in rheumatic diseases, and the study of the intersection of rheumatic diseases and the brain, exploring neural tools as new therapeutic alternatives for systemic inflammatory conditions. Her scholarly work has been published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation, Pharmacological Research, Journal of the Neurological Sciences, and Clinical Rheumatology.

Education

• Undergraduate: Havana University, Cuba

• Medical School: Havana University, Cuba

• Internship: Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center (LMMHC) is affiliated with Weill Cornell Medical College

• Residency: Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center (LMMHC) is affiliated with Weill Cornell Medical College

• Residency: Stony Brook University Hospital, NY

• Fellowship: SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University

Research Interests

Neural tools to modulate systemic inflammation, neurological manifestations of autoimmune disorders