Faculty
- Gerardo Munoz-Monaco, MD, MBA, FAAFP
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Program Director / Assistant Professor
Dr. Gerardo Munoz Monaco obtained his Medical Degree from the Universidad de Carabobo in Venezuela, and completed his training at Indiana University.
He has practiced as a family medicine physician for five years, with a focus on Preventative Care and Quality/Coding.
In addition to his medical practice, Dr. Munoz is a member of American Academy of Family Medicine, Board Certified by the American Academy of Family Physicians, member of the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA), and member of the NHMA Board Development Committee. He resides in McAllen, TX with his wife and three kids.
- Carolina Gomez, MD
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Associate Program Director / Assistant Professor
Dr. Carolina Gomez de Ziegler received her Medical Degree from the Universidad Central de Venezuela, where she also completed a Pathology Residency. Dr. Gomez worked for ten years as faculty of the School of Medicine in her home country. She moved to the United States in 2017 to start her training in Family Medicine at the UTRGV Family Medicine Residency Program at Knapp.
Dr Gomez de Ziegler is Board Certified by the American Academy of Family Physicians. She is interested in preventive medicine, geriatric population, and management of chronic diseases. She is passionate about teaching and integrated care, especially to the underserved population. She resides in McAllen with her husband and three daughters.
- Miguel Alvarez Silva, MD
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Assistant Professor
Dr. Miguel Alvarez Silva obtained his Medical Doctor Degree from the Universidad de Carabobo Sede Aragua in Venezuela. He completed one year of rural medicine and then moved to the United States to start his training in Family Medicine at the UTRGV Family Medicine Residency Program at Knapp. He served as Chief Resident during his last year of Residency. He worked in a rural private practice for one year.
Dr. Alvarez Silva is Board Certified in Family Medicine. He is part of the American Academy of Family Physicians. He is interested in teaching residents in Outpatient management of Obesity, Cardiovascular diseases, Diabetes, Inpatient medicine, and the full scope of family medicine. Dr. Alvarez resides in Weslaco, Texas with his wife and Daughter.
- Alejandro Bocanegra, MD
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Assistant Professor of Family Medicine
Dr. Bocanegra, a native of Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology with a Biology minor from the University of Texas at San Antonio and graduated with Highest Honors and International Distinction from the Honors College. Dr. Bocanegra earned his medical degree from Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, DC, and completed his Family Medicine residency at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley-Doctor’s Hospital at Renaissance.
His professional focus encompasses ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic health disparities and interventions to reduce them. Additionally, his interests extend to imparting critical concepts and skills related to clinical reasoning, diagnostic error, and medical decision-making in a clinical context.
Dr. Bocanegra is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at UTRGV.
- James Fahey, MD
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Assistant Professor of Medicine
- JoAnna Garza, LCSW
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Behavioral Health Consultant (BHC)
JoAnna Garza completed her Masters in Social Work from The University of Denver. JoAnna was a recipient of the CLIMB@DU stipend, a HRSA grant aimed at increasing integrated behavioral health services in rural, medically underserved communities. This paid-opportunity allowed her to complete her internship at St. Mary’s Family Medicine Residency in Grand Junction, CO. She served in their Integrated Health Model as a Behavioral Health Provider in Family Medicine. Since graduation in 2019, JoAnna returned to the region and population of the Rio Grande Valley, where she was raised.
Since joining the School of Medicine, JoAnna serves as a Behavioral Health Consultant in Family Medicine and is an active part of educating Family Medicine residents. JoAnna provides the oversight for the Primary Care Behavioral Health rotation experience. In this rotation, JoAnna supervises and trains Family Medicine residents as they function as a Behavioral Health Consultant during the rotation to obtain skills in addressing biopsychosocial factors that influence patient care. They will also learn key evidence based behavioral skills necessary to assisting patients with self-management of their acute and chronic health conditions.
In her spare time, she is an avid collector of Gnomes and has a cup that says “Rolling with my Gnomies”
- Deepu George, PhD, LMFT
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Associate Professor of Medicine, Director of Integrated Behavioral Health
Deepu George has been in the Rio Grande Valley since 2014 and is a passionate advocate for increasing parity for mental health through Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH) integration. The general theme of his work has focused on increasing biopsychosocial-spiritual workforce development strategies through curricula and experiential learning for both the physician and mental health workforce. As part of the workforce development strategy, George and his team also focus on and leads the Fortify Resilience initiatives on physician wellbeing at UTRGV. In addition to his academic work, he is also pursuing theological training with the aim of addressing spiritual health of the next generation of physician trainees. He is a Postulant for Holy Orders for the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas.
Deepu completed his Doctoral studies from the University of Georgia (Go Dawgs) and a clinical internship in integrated care at the Duke / Southern Regional Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Family Medicine Residency program.
He is an intermittent participant in the Integrated Care Podcast of the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association. He is an avid admirer of Ted Lasso and personally believes Ted should officially be considered for sainthood.
- Adrian Sandoval, PharmD, BCPS, BCACP
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Assistant Professor
Adrian Sandoval, PharmD, BCPS, BCACP is an Assistant Professor within the Department of Family and Community Medicine and Discipline Expert (Pharmacology) at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) School of Medicine (SOM).
Dr. Sandoval is a clinical pharmacy specialist with a primary care scope of practice and faculty at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance (DHR) and Knapp Medical Center (KMC) Family Medicine Residencies. He is a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist (BCPS) and Board Certified in Ambulatory-Care Pharmacy (BCACP). Dr. Sandoval is the Director of the Pharmacotherapy Clinic at DHR and KMC FMRs and the Director of Pharmacology Curriculum for the Department of
Family and Community Medicine.
He completed an Ambulatory-Care/Community Pharmacy Residency at Scott & White Healthcare in Temple, TX. After completion of his residency, and before joining the SOM, he was faculty at The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy (COP)/University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA) Cooperative Pharmacy Program (CPP). His interests include interprofessional practice/education, medication adherence, substance abuse, and primary care topics such as diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. Outside of work, he loves to spend time with his family, travel to historical sites, spend time outdoors, BBQ, and enjoys sharing laughs with his friends and family.
