Juan Luis Alcala Zermeno, MD

Neurology
More specialties
Accepting New Patients
Virtual Visits/Telehealth
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Overview

After obtaining his medical degree from the Universidad de Guadalajara with the Dean´s Mention of Outstanding Academic Performance, Luis Alcala completed his Adult Neurology residency training at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He then moved to the East Coast to complete fellowship training in Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. He is passionate about the diagnosis and surgical treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy and how much can epilepsy surgery improve the quality of life of patients when used properly. Dr. Alcala is a native Spanish speaker.

Areas of Expertise / Conditions Treated

  • Drug resistant epilepsy
  • Electroencephalogram (EEG)
  • Epilepsy
  • Epilepsy/Seizure Disorders

Academic Appointments

  • Assistant Professor of Neurology at CUMC

Languages

  • English
  • Spanish

Gender

  • Male

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Virtual Visits/Telehealth

Virtual Visits allow you to connect with your provider from the comfort, convenience, and safety of your own home.

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Location(s)

Insurance Accepted

Aetna

  • Aetna Signature Administrators
  • NYP Employee Plan
  • NY Signature
  • Student Health

Amerigroup of New Jersey

  • New Jersey Services (Medicaid Managed Care)

Cigna

  • Great West (National)

Emblem/HIP

  • ConnectiCare
  • POS
  • Select Care (Exchange)
  • Vytra

Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield

  • EPO
  • HMO
  • Medicare Managed Care
  • PPO

Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield HealthPlus

  • Child/Family Health Plus
  • Essential Plan
  • Medicaid Managed Care

Healthfirst

  • Leaf (Exchange)

Local 1199

  • Local 1199

MagnaCare (National)

  • MagnaCare

Medicare

  • Railroad
  • Traditional Medicare

Multiplan

  • Multiplan

Quality Health Management

  • Quality Health Management

UnitedHealthcare

  • Compass (Exchange)
  • Empire Plan
  • Medicaid (Community Plan)
  • Oxford Freedom
  • Oxford HMO
  • Oxford Liberty

VNSNY CHOICE

  • SelectHealth
  • Special Needs

World Trade Center Health Plan

  • World Trade Center Health Plan

*Please contact the provider’s office directly to verify that your particular insurance is accepted.

Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

  • MD, 2017 Universidad de Guadalajara – Centro Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
  • Internship: 2019 Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN
  • Residency: 2022 Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN
  • Fellowship: 2023 Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA
  • Fellowship: 2024 Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA

Honors & Awards

Young Investigator Award, American Epilepsy Society, 2023

Research

Since the beginning of his Adult Neurology Residency, Luis Alcala became involved in epilepsy surgery clinical research, mainly focusing on outcomes of invasive neuromodulation for treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy cases not amenable to resective surgery. During fellowship he expanded his interests beyond the outcomes of epilepsy surgery and on to the racial and socioeconomic disparities that curtail access to it. As clinician-researchers, quantifying the issues involved in access to epilepsy surgery is not enough as we need develop a deeper sense of the reasons behind such disparities, which may be better studied by means of a qualitative lens.

Besides assessing epilepsy surgery outcomes, Dr. Alcala’s research tries to leverage mixed methods to delineate the key factors involved in the unequal access to epilepsy surgery.