Luis Silva, MD

Growing up in the sunny city of Rio de Janeiro, Luis Silva became interested in Neurology as a teenager through the works of Oliver Sacks and Miguel Nicolelis. During medical school, he reinforced that interest by becoming the President of the Student’s Neurology Interest Group, advocating for more clinical and research opportunities. Luis also played volleyball for his medical school team, winning a silver medal in the state championship.

After graduating from medical school, he volunteered to become a physician for the Brazilian Navy. He spent 18 months providing care to isolated communities in the Amazon while serving aboard the Hospital Ship “Soares de Meirelles.” During his time in the Amazon, Luis discovered his passion for photography and now travels with his DSLR camera when on vacation to catch pictures of nature, especially the sunset!

Upon completing his military duty, he moved to Minneapolis to pursue his master’s in public health with an emphasis in Data Science at the University of Minnesota. He learned to program with R and Python, becoming extremely interested in using natural language processing to streamline medical research.

A proud Brazilian, Luis enjoys soccer and listens to various genres of Brazilian music, from Pagode to Bossa Nova. He is extremely happy to be a resident at the University of Florida, where he can continue expanding his academic interests in education and research while contributing to a welcoming work environment.