Hola, my name is Ricardo. I was born in San Salvador, the capital city of El Salvador; a small, beautiful country in the heart of Central America, land of majestic volcanoes, lively towns, breathtaking beaches and friendly, welcoming people. My hometown, Santa Tecla, is located twenty minutes north of San Salvador, where I completed high school and medical school.
Neurodegenerative disorders have always intrigued me, since we have only scratched the surface towards understanding the complexity of their etiology and how to treat them, thereby improving quality of life, while making strides toward finding cures. My passion for neurology started at a young age while volunteering for support groups. As I went to medical school and interacted with patients, my vocation only grew stronger. It was in the middle of my career that I found myself immersed in the world of clinical research from which my interest in academic medicine rapidly developed.
My research efforts are focused on Movement Disorders; specifically Parkinson’s disease and non-motor symptoms, the application of technology-based objective measures to improve quality of life, and the integral management of functional movement disorders. Other interests include Huntington’s disease, ethnical variations of intracerebral hemorrhage and patient educational outreach in the Hispanic population.
Outside of medicine, I enjoy getting lost in fine arts museums, playing tennis, and following the best fútbol team in the world, FC Barcelona, Visça el Barça! My love for architecture and cultural enrichment motivates me to visit historic landmarks everywhere I go, and my passion to explore the outdoor world, leads me to visit US national parks, where pictures fall short of portraying how spectacular nature can be. – As a side note, I am particularly excited that Arkansas, also known as “The Natural State”, has 52 state parks!
I am excited to be part of the UAMS Neurology family, as I look forward to enjoying the beauty of Little Rock and the southern hospitality of its people.
Spoken Languages: English, Spanish and French
Medical School: Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Dr. Luis Edmundo Vásquez, Universidad Doctor José Matías Delgado, San Salvador, El Salvador.
Movement Disorders Clinical Research Fellowship: University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio.