DOCTORS OF INTEREST
of
Secours Hospital in Michigan;
fellowship in infectious diseases
from the University of Miami School of Medicine
Hobbies: Chess, cricket, volunteering, watching movies,
sports, gardening
What inspires me: “Honesty, altruism, medical research.”
What most people don’t know about me: “I am passionate
about my beliefs and access to medicine. I also believe failure
and criticism can motivate change.”
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Treasure Coast Medical Report
to touch — nobody wanted to see those patients. It was like
having the Ebola virus.”
It was during this time that the young physician was narrowing
his specialty of medicine. At first, he chose the field
of obstetrics and gynecology. Yet after working with HIV
patients, he was moved in a different direction.
“I looked at these young people dying and I thought, ‘I
want to work in there. This is what I want to do,’” he says.
“And I think my inclination to help people took me to infectious
disease because it’s a disease of poverty, people who
have little support around them. It’s one of the few specialties
where you can actually save lives.”
He received his residency training in internal medicine at
Bon Secours Hospital in Michigan and completed his fellowship
in infectious diseases at the University of Miami. And in
1999, he established his medical practice in Fort Pierce.
At that time, Fort Pierce had one of the highest HIV rates in
Florida. Through his practice, Ramgopal tackled the disease
head on by working with the health department and other organizations
who were willing to help him. He came up with
an innovative idea and created the Midway Research Center
in 2002.
“I started looking at patients and saying, ‘Wow, a year
from now, this patient could die. I need new treatment,’” he
reflects. “So, I reached out to a company and started networking
and I got one clinical trial, then two clinical trials. Now,
we’ve done almost 250. What does that mean? That means
the pharmaceutical companies are providing really good
quality medications — phase two, phase three studies medications
— that are available only in university centers which
are now in our local community.”
DR. MOTI RAMGOPAL
Age: 54
Occupation: Infectious disease
physician
Lives in: Palm City
Education: Medical degree from
the University of West Indies
Faculty of Medical Sciences; residency
in internal medicine at Bon
The research center has provided cutting-edge work that is
highly respected in the HIV world. It has also been life- and
cost-saving to patients in our area. The clinical trials have delivered
advanced medical treatment to more than 1,000 patients at
a savings estimated to be $10 million to the community.
The Midway Research Center has branched out to treat
other infectious diseases as well.
As a certified principal investigator for clinical research,
Ramgopal’s many studies have been published in the New England
Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, the Journal of Acquired Immune
Deficiency Syndromes, and The Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Ramgopal has a big heart for reaching out to the under- >>
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