Dr. Valerie Wojna, Alliance Principal Investigator
Dr. Valerie Wojna began her career as a clinician caring for patients with neurological conditions and as an educator coordinating a problem-based learning course and teaching in the Neurology Residency Program. As a Professor, she transitioned into clinical translational research, focusing on HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) with a strong commitment to addressing health gaps. She led the first Hispanic/Latino Longitudinal NeuroAIDS women’s cohort through the NeuroAIDS Specialized Neuroscience Research Program (2001–2011) and has since maintained continuous NIH funding to study host factors, biomarkers, and social influences in HAND. She directs a multidisciplinary research team of physicians, neuropsychologists, postdoctoral fellows, coordinators, and collaborators across Puerto Rico and the mainland.
Her work emphasizes mentorship and training at all levels, with mentees earning fellowships, pilot funding, faculty appointments, and co-authoring peer-reviewed publications. As Core Leader of the Pilot Project Programs of the Puerto Rico Clinical and Translational Research Consortium and the Alliance, she mentors early-career faculty toward research independence, achieving a 55% success rate in external funding. Her mentoring philosophy is holistic and goal-oriented, tailored to each mentee’s aspirations and background. Through this approach, Dr. Wojna has supported the growth of many investigators who now lead their own funded projects.