Meet Yale Internal Medicine: Carolina Gonzalez-Lopez, MD

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Carolina Gonzalez-Lopez, MD, has built a career around targeting diseases, in particular diabetes, that predominantly affect the Hispanic population. In doing so, the assistant professor of medicine (endocrinology and metabolism) feels a sense of home even in her clinics.

Lopez was raised in a family of engineers; her parents ran a medical laboratory business in Puerto Rico and instilled discipline at a young age. “A lot of my early inspiration came from my mom telling me I could do whatever I want as long as I had a career,” Lopez said.

That career became evident in college, at the University of Puerto Rico, where Lopez majored in molecular biology. Through a summer program offered by the University of Puerto Rico for pre-med students, she worked on a research project studying the HIV population in Puerto Rico, examining the risk factors affecting this community. It was during a molecular endocrinology course that she started to view endocrinology as a form of applied chemistry.

During her internal medicine residency at Mount Sinai, she studied the effects of Vitamin D supplementation on COVID-19 infection.

Lopez came to Yale in 2021 for her endocrine fellowship. Initially on the research track, she began collaborating with Kasia Lipska, MD, MHS, associate professor of medicine (endocrinology and metabolism), and the Yale School of Public Health to focus on the association between diabetes diagnoses and patient housing.

Lopez became assistant professor in 2023 and currently runs five clinics in various clinical areas, including diabetes, transplant endocrinology, and general endocrinology. For about two months scattered throughout the year, she focuses on inpatient medicine.

When advising trainees, Lopez refers to the saying, “Pick what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.”

Lopez has taken her own advice and is often driven by her love for her patients. “Being Hispanic, I get a lot of Spanish-speaking patients,” she says. “They remind me of home.”

Endocrinology and Metabolism, one of 10 sections in the Yale Department of Internal Medicine, works to improve the health of individuals with endocrine and metabolic diseases by advancing scientific knowledge, applying new information to patient care, and training the next generation of physicians and scientists to become leaders in the field. To learn more, visit Endocrinology and Metabolism.