Medical Faculty

Certified by the American Academy of Pathology since November 1998, Dr. Lozada studied at the University of Puerto Rico’s School of Medicine from 1987 to 1991. He completed his internship on Internal Medicine as part of the Veterans Hospital Administration from 1991 to 1992, and continued his combined residency in anatomical and clinical pathology at the University of Puerto Rico’s School of Medicine from 1992 to 1996. Dr. Lozada is currently the Director of the Clinical Laboratory at Ashford Presbyterian Community Hospital and HRP Labs Clinical Laboratory.

Dr. Billoch worked at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation as a Clinical Research Associate in New York in 1998. Certified by the American Board of Pathology since November 2012, he studied medicine at the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara in Mexico and completed his residency at University of Puerto Rico’s School of Medicine between July 2008 and June 2012, where he was chosen as chief resident (2011-2012). He became part of HRP Labs pathology faculty shortly after, and he has been Assistant Medical Director in HRP Labs since 2017. Dr. Billoch is also part of the Fine Needle Aspiration medical faculty.

Dr. Ferrer studied medicine at the University of Puerto Rico’s School of Medicine, where he also completed his internship in Pathology and his residency in Anatomical and Clinical Pathology between the years 1992 and 1996. From 1993 to 1996 he also worked as a “Gross Anatomy Pathology Dissector” at HRP Associates. Between 1996 and 1997, he completed a sub-specialty in Immunopathology at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, FL.

Certified by the American Board of Pathology since November 1998, Dr. Ferrer worked as a pathologist at University Pathology, Inc. and as Laboratory Director at Las Marias Reference Laboratory until 2001. He has been working at HIMA Caguas Hospital as Director of Anatomic Pathology, Director of Clinical Laboratory and Transfusion from then until present. He is currently the Technical Director of the Laboratory of Immunopathology division at HRP Labs.

Dr. García studied medicine at the Central University of the Caribbean’s School of Medicine, where she also completed her residency in Pathology between 2004 and 2008. From 2006 until 2007, she worked as an assistant pathologist at Domenech Pathology and Associates, and in 2008 went on to work as an Assistant Professor at the Ponce School of Medicine’s Department of Pathology. She was also evaluator of cases of anatomical and clinical pathology in Southern Pathology Services and as a Pathologist at Ponce Medical School. She became a part of the HRPLabs medical faculty in 2010, and has directed the Cytology department. Dr. García was certified by the American Academy of Pathology in May 2012, is now head of the Research and Development Division, and is also part of the Fine Needle Aspiration medical faculty.

Dr. Rosado studied at the University of Puerto Rico’s School of Medicine from 1990 to 1994, where she completed a combined residency program in Anatomical and Clinical Pathology from 1994 to 1998. She then completed a sub specialty in Surgical Pathology at the University of Alabama, and later her second subspecialty in Gastropathology and liver disease at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. She was certified by the American Academy of Pathology in November 1999.

Dr. Rosado has been a gastropathologist at HRP Labs since 2000. In her time working at HRP Labs, she has been a consultant in the Department of Gastroenterology at Veterans Hospital and serves as a member of the scientific committee of the Gastroenterology Association of Puerto Rico. She is currently the Director of the Department of Pathology at the Hospital del Maestro.

Dr. Torrellas studied medicine at the Central University of the Caribbean School of Medicine in 2005. Between July 2005 and in June 2006 she completed her internship in pathology at the University of Puerto Rico, School of Medicine. She completed her residency at Louisiana State University School of Medicine in June 2010 and completed her sub specialty in Cytopathology at Tulane University of Louisiana School of Medicine in June 2011.

Dr. Torrellas joined the team of pathologists of HRP Labs in October 2014.  She is currently the Technical Supervisor of the Cytology Department.

Certified by the American Board of Pathology since July 2011, Dr. Arce studied medicine at the Autonomous University of Guadalajara in Mexico. She completed her transitional residency at the Damas Hospital in Ponce between 2006 and 2007.  During 2007 and 2011 she completed her residency in Anatomical and Clinical Pathology at the Medical School of the University of Puerto Rico, where she was chosen as chief resident (2010-2011). In 2017 she was appointed Technical Supervisor of the Histology Laboratory at HRPLabs.  She is also a part of the Fine Needle Aspiration Medical Faculty.

Certified by the American Board of Pathology since July 2016, Dr. Sepulveda studied medicine at the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara in Mexico. She completed her internship on Internal Medicine at New York Medical College in Valhalla from January 2009 to December 2009, and from July 2011 to June 2012 at the Oncology Hospital, Dr. Isaac González Martínez in Rio Piedras. She completed her residency in Anatomical and Clinical Pathology at the School of Medicine of the University of Puerto Rico. Dr. Sepúlveda joined the HRP Labs medical team in 2016.

Dr. Pérez Berenguer was certified by the American Academy of Pathology since November 1998. He studied at the School of Medicine in Havana, Cuba in 1977 and completed his residency in pathology at the Salvador Allende Hospital in Cuba in 1981. From 1987 to 1994 he was director of the department of Neuropathology at the Pathology National Reference Center of Hospital Hermanos Ameijeiras in Cuba, where he also completed a second degree in Pathology. From 1988 to 1991 he completed the subspecialty in Neuropathology and Brain Biopsy in Stereotactic Neurosurgery at the Sainte Ann Hospital in Paris, France. He later acquired his second subspecialty in neuropathology at the Medical College of Virginia.

Today he is a Pathologist and Director of Neuropathology services at HRP Labs. He is Associate Professor at the San Juan Bautista School of Medicine, Pathologist and Neuropathology Consultant at the Veterans Hospital, ASEM Department of Pathology and The Institute of Forensic Sciences.

Certified by the American Academy of Pathology in August 2006 and recertified in 2016, Dr. Gutiérrez studied at the Ponce Medical School, graduating in 2000. She then completed her specialty in Anatomical and Clinical Pathology at the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus between 2002 and 2005. She worked as an instructor and then an assistant professor in the Department of Anatomy and Pathology at Ponce Medical School from 2006 to 2014. For the next several years, Dr. Gutiérrez worked for the Caribbean Cytopathological Center at Episcopal Hospital San Lucas, Ponce, as part of the staff of pathologists in 2016 and later as director of department. Dr. Gutiérrez participated on the Bio Tissue Bank project at the School of Medicine, a project between PSM-Moffitt Cancer Center, NIH U54 grant and U56 grant, first as a volunteer in the tissue collection, then as a co-leader and continues to collaborate with this project.

In 2014 Dr. Gutiérrez began working at HRP Labs as part of the medical faculty of pathologists. Then in 2016, she became director of the Pathology Department, Clinical Laboratory and Blood Bank of the Damas Hospital in Ponce.

Certified by the American Board of Pathology since 2013 in Anatomical and Clinical Pathology and certified since 2014 in the subspecialty of hematopathology.  Dr. Delgado studied medicine and completed her residency in pathology at the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus, School of Medicine. She later completed a sub-specialty in Hematopathology at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, CT in June 2014. She joined the medical faculty of HRPLabs and is director of the hematopathology department that includes a flow cytometry laboratory and an immunohistochemistry laboratory focused on this specialty.

Dr. Nicole Candelario graduated as a dermatologist in the Department of Dermatology of the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus. She served as Assistant Professor for the Department of Dermatology at the University of Iowa. She then completed a subspecialty in dermatopathology at the University of Texas Southwestern. Dr. Candelario is certified by the American Board of Dermatology and Dermatopathology and became part of the HRPLabs medical faculty in 2016, where she currently directs the Dermatopathology Division.

Certified by the American Academy of Pathology since May 2008. Dr. Matos studied medicine at the Ponce School of Medicine. She did her internship on Internal Medicine at the Veterans Hospital from July 1997 to June 1998 and completed her residency in Anatomical and Clinical Pathology at the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine.

Dr. Matos started working at HRPLabs in 2016.

Dr. José R. De Jesús Meléndez completed his medical studies at the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara in 2004, then made his residency in Anatomical Pathology and at the same year he became Board Certified in Anatomical and Clinical Pathology. Dr. De Jesus started his Fellowship of Breast Surgical Pathology from Moffitt Cancer Center and after completion, he returned to HRPLabs in November 2018.

Dr. Rivera studied at the Ponce School of Medicine, and later in 2010 completed her residency in Anatomical and Clinical Pathology at the University of Puerto Rico’s School of Medicine. She completed her subspecialty in Molecular Genetic Pathology at John Hopkins’ School of Medicine. She was certified by the American Board of Pathology and by the American College of Medical Genetics. In 2019, she joined the medical faculty at HRP Labs. Her area of expertise are cancer genetics and personalized medicine and therapy.

Dr. Rodríguez Medina studied medicine at the Central Caribbean University’s School of Medicine. He completed his residency in Anatomical and Clinical Pathology at the Medical Sciences campus of the University of Puerto Rico. Certified by the American Board of Pathology in 1992, he joined the HRP Labs medical faculty that same year. He is currently a pathologist and director of the Department of Dictation of Specimen, and is in charge of continuing education for pathology assistants.

Dr. Rodríguez León graduated from the University of Puerto Rico’s School of Medicine. He also completed his residency in Anatomical and Clinical Pathology at the Medical Sciences campus of the University of Puerto Rico. In April of 2017, he visited the Department of Pathology of the School of Medicine at John Hopkins University through the program for minority and underrepresented resident medical students. Now in 2021, Dr. Rodríguez León will begin a sub-specialty in gastropathology at John Hopkins University.

Dr. Simmons graduated from Central University of the Caribbean in 1987 and completed his studies in Clinical and Anatomical Pathology at the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus in 1994.

Dr. Simmons began working at HRPLabs in 1992 and currently serves at HRPLabs as director of the specimen dictation department and is in charge of the continuing education for pathology assistants.

Graduated from the School of Medicine at Health Science University Ponce. In 2020 he completed his residency in Anatomical and Clinical Pathology at the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine.

In 2020, he joined the HRPLabs medical faculty. Dr. Carballo is part of the Medical Faculty of our Fine Needle Biopsy clinics.