Lilyana Amezcua, MD

Dr. Amezcua is an Associate Professor of Neurology, and chief of the Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology Division. She also serves as the director of Culture and Engagement for the Department of Neurology and the medical director of the Neuromyelitis Optica and MOG clinic at Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC). She received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California Irvine in Irvine, California, and her medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, followed by neurology residency and clinical fellowship in neuroimmunology and multiple sclerosis at USC under a National Multiple Sclerosis (NMSS) fellowship training grant. She received her Master of Science in clinical, biomedical, and translational science from USC, Preventive Medicine, under a Clinical Translational Science Institute National Institutes of Health (NIH) KL2 award.

Dr. Amezcua spearheaded the collaborative research consortium: Alliance for Research in Hispanic MS (ARHMS) and serves as principal investigator. ARHMS is geared at better defining racial and ethnic health disparities, by examining modifiable (social determinants of health and environmental) from non-modifiable genetic factors involved in disease severity and progression specific underrepresented populations with MS. She is also engaged in global health initiatives to address the global barriers to MS diagnosis and treatment around low and middle-income countries and under-resourced care centers. In addition, she serves in numerous national and international committees, including as an elected member of the NMSS National Medical Advisory Committee (NMAC), NIH NINDS Health Disparities Strategic Steering Committee, and The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicines Planning Committee to address CNS health disparities. She has been recognized with numerous awards, including being inducted into the NMSS Volunteer Hall of Fame in 2015 and recognized as a Health Care Champion in 2022. She is funded by NIH NINDS, NMSS, Race to Erase MS, Brystol Myer Squibb Foundation, and private donors.

Publications