Leadership

Dr. Alexei DeCastro completed his family medicine residency training at McLeod Health in Florence, South Carolina in 2005. He then served in the United States Air Force in both primary care and aerospace medicine at Barksdale AFB in Shreveport, Louisiana from 2005 to 2009. He deployed to Iraq in 2008 and served as the chief physician of the intermediate care ward in the busiest trauma center of the region. He still currently serves as a flight surgeon in the USAF Reserve at Joint Base Charleston. Additionally, he completed a sports medicine fellowship at the Southern Illinois School of Medicine in 2009. He then returned to Charleston, SC with his family and worked in urgent care prior to joining MUSC in 2012.

Dr. DeCastro has extensive training in the non-operative management of musculoskeletal problems, from acute injury through rehabilitation, and is trained in the use of musculoskeletal ultrasound for diagnostic and treatment purposes. His main areas of interest are sports medicine, sports-related concussions, musculoskeletal ultrasound, and medical education. He also serves as team physician for the Charleston Battery, Charleston RiverDogs, College of Charleston athletics, SC Stingrays, and tournament physician for professional tennis with the WTA at the Volvo Car Open.

Vanessa Diaz, M.D. MSCR, received her medical degree from the University of Miami (Florida) and completed residency in Savannah, Georgia. She joined our research division as a faculty member in 2004 after completing a two-year faculty development fellowship at MUSC that included obtaining her Master's of Science in Clinical Research.

Dr. Diaz serves as ICCE Chief for primacy care and is medical director for care coordination for primary care. Her research interests include Latino health, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and women's health issues. A native of Panama, Dr. Diaz is fluent in Spanish.