Rafael Rodriguez Mercado MD, Neurocirujano

Since 1997, Dr. Rodríguez has been dedicated to Endovascular Neurosurgery for around 24 years. The neurosrugeon is a graduate of a bachelor's degree in Chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), Rio Piedras Campus, and a Phd. graduate in Medicine from the School of Medicine of the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus.

As a student, he received both research and student leadership awards, as well as recognition from the House of Representatives in 1988. After completing his graduate studies, he trained for seven years at the UPR School of Medicine until he obtained a specialty in Neurosurgery. He then obtained a subspecialty in endovascular neurosurgery at New York University. In September 2017, he was appointed Associate Professor of Surgery at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences of the Armed Forces of the United States.

With this appointment, he joined the faculty ranks of this prestigious military university. Until then, he held the position of Commander of the United States Army Reserve in Puerto Rico, first mission support command, a military force to which he has belonged since 1988. Dr. Rodríguez Mercado is an attending physician as a neurosurgeon at Walter Reed Medical Hospital and Brooke Army Medical Center. His life has been surrounded by insurmountable excellence and achievement. The Endovascular Surgery program Dr. Rodríguez provides is recognized at a worldwide level. Due to his qualities and vast administrative experience, he was unanimously elected in 2010 as Chancellor of the Medical Sciences Campus, a position that ended in 2013. He continued his clinical and academic work until January 2017, when he was appointed by former Governor Ricardo Rosselló Nevarez as Secretary of Health of Puerto Rico, a position which culminated in March 2020.