Manny Alvarez

Personal life

Born in Cuba on April 16, 1957, Manuel Alvarez is the oldest son of a middle income, Christian family. He was separated from his family as a young boy during the Cuban Revolution when he was sent to the United States to live with a foster family through an outreach program while his father was placed in a Cuban prison. Five years later, Alvarez was reunited with his family in New York and his father was able to start a business in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Alvarez lives in a New Jersey suburb with his wife and three children. His son Ryan is on the autism spectrum and Alvarez has been a vocal supporter of the autism community, often using his position at Fox News to speak out on social issues affecting people on the spectrum.

Medical career

Alvarez graduated in 1981 from the Department of Medicine of Universidad Central del Este a private university in the Dominican Republic, founded in San Pedro de Macorís on October 15, 1970. He is board certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the subspecialty Board of Maternal Fetal Medicine, specializing in the care of high-risk pregnant patients.

After completing his Obstetrics/Gynecology and Anesthesiology residencies at St. Joseph Hospital and Medical Center in Paterson, New Jersey, Alvarez completed fellowships in Maternal Fetal Medicine and Critical Care Medicine at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. He later held the positions of associate professor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and vice chairman of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City.

Since 1996, Alvarez has served as chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Science, Donna A. Sanzari Women’s Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center. Alvarez also holds a position as adjunct professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at New York University School of Medicine in New York City.

Alvarez sits on the board of the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation which supports patient information and research grants to scientists in an effort to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. Howard Lutnick, chairman and chief executive officer of Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P., is also a board member.

In June 2006, Alvarez was honored by the Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton during the 20th anniversary of Postpartum Support International for his work in providing lectures and community education on women’s health. He is a member of the organization’s President’s Advisory Council.

In 2011, Alvarez received the first-ever March of Dimes President’s Award for Prematurity Prevention Leadership for reducing early elective C-sections for implementing policies that have reduced unnecessary early-term deliveries from nearly 43 percent to 5 percent over a 2-year period.

Alvarez currently serves as an examiner for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He is a Board Member of Life Opportunities Unlimited, a nonprofit organization serving educationally challenged children. In 2004, Alvarez was named Man of the Year by New Jersey SEEDS, an organization that provides students educational scholarships.

He has developed protocols for arterial embolization in pregnancy and co-authored two articles on this procedure. He has also authored numerous publications on various topics in Obstetrics and Gynecology with specific interests in high-risk pregnancy, perinatal ultrasound, and fetal therapy.

Journalism career

Known widely to audiences as "Dr. Manny", Alvarez started his career in journalism as a health science reporter for Telemundo, where he developed a nightly news segment entitled "A Dose of Health."

In September 2005, Alvarez filed a report for Fox News from Texas on the preparations that were being made ahead of Hurricane Rita to prevent mistakes made after Hurricane Katrina.

Alvarez launched AskDrManny in January 2006 as a website dedicated to providing general information about health news. The website specializes in information regarding Women's Health, Pregnancy, and Early Childhood Development. In 2009 AskDrManny launched AskDrManny on YouTube aimed at providing video segments related to the same topics.

Alvarez reported on the earthquake that hit Haiti in January 2010, where he brought medical supplies and helped treat patients at border hospitals in the Dominican Republic.

Later on that year, in June 2010, he reported on the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, coining the phrase “Gulf Oil Syndrome” in referring to the potential health hazards that the population in the region could face in the years to come.

Alvarez has interviewed Nobel Laureate Dr. Paul Greengard about his discoveries in treating Alzheimer’s disease and receiving The Karolinska Institute’s Bi-Centennial Gold Medal.

Alvarez is the author of The Checklist: What You and Your Family Need to Know to Prevent Disease and Live a Long and Healthy Life, which won two awards in May 2008 for both its Spanish and English editions at the 10th annual International Latino Book Awards in Los Angeles. In 2008, he published his second book, The Hot Latin Diet: The Fast-Track Plan to a Bombshell Body.

He serves as the senior managing health editor for FoxNews.com, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network and FoxBusiness.com.

Books and publications

♦The Checklist: What You and Your Family Need to Know to Prevent Disease and Live a Long and Healthy Life, HarperCollins Publishers, 2007.
♦The Hot Latin Diet: The Fast-Track Plan to a Bombshell Body, Penguin/Celebra, 2008.

Notable Literary Mentions

"I must admit I felt a bit desperate, since I have never had medical problems. I had never even caught colds. I contacted my friend Maria Garcia, who was close to Dr. Manuel Alvarez. I guess since I’ve never intentionally harmed anyone, the Lord always sends me His angels in my times of need. Pedro and I went to see Dr. Alvarez, who held my hand and was more than understanding with us. He took me to see several specialists who could tell me what my options were." – Celia Cruz, on being diagnosed with breast cancer from her book, "Celia: My life, An Autobiography" Pg. 215

"Within an hour of Celia’s death, the nurses called Dr. Manuel Alvarez to inform him of what had just transpired and ask him to come to the penthouse, while the rest of us began calling relatives and close friends. … Within minutes, Dr. Alvarez arrived and declared Celia dead." On the death of Celia Cruz, from the book "Celia: My Life, An Autobiography" Pg. 236