Ralitza H. Gavrilova MD

Ralitza H. Gavrilova, MD, is a distinguished neurologist, medical geneticist, and physician-scientist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where she serves as Professor of Neurology and Professor of Medical Genetics. Internationally recognized for her expertise in neurogenetics and mitochondrial medicine, Dr. Gavrilova has dedicated her career to improving the diagnosis, understanding, and treatment of rare inherited neurological disorders and mitochondrial diseases.

Dr. Gavrilova completed her medical education at the Medical University of Sofia in Bulgaria before pursuing advanced training in Internal Medicine and Neurology at the University of Missouri. She subsequently completed fellowship training in Neurology, Multiple Sclerosis, and Medical Genetics at Mayo Clinic, developing a unique combination of expertise in both neurological disease and genomic medicine. She is board-certified in Neurology and has held numerous leadership positions within Mayo Clinic's genetics and neurology programs.

Her clinical and research interests focus on mitochondrial diseases, mitochondrial myopathies, Friedreich’s ataxia, hereditary leukodystrophies, Angelman syndrome, and other neurodegenerative disorders associated with mitochondrial dysfunction. Dr. Gavrilova's work seeks to better understand the role of mitochondrial abnormalities in neurological disease and to develop improved diagnostic tools, patient registries, and novel therapeutic approaches for rare genetic disorders.

As Director of the Mayo Clinic Mitochondrial Care Center, Dr. Gavrilova has played a pivotal role in advancing multidisciplinary care for patients with mitochondrial disorders. She has served as a principal investigator for the North American Mitochondrial Disease Consortium (NAMDC), chaired biobank initiatives, and contributed to national and international efforts to improve research collaboration and patient care in mitochondrial medicine. She has also served on the boards of the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation and the Mitochondrial Medicine Society.

An accomplished researcher, Dr. Gavrilova has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and has led studies examining mitochondrial dysfunction, MELAS syndrome, mitochondrial diabetes, Friedreich’s ataxia, and other rare genetic neurological conditions. Her work has contributed significantly to the understanding of disease mechanisms and clinical outcomes in mitochondrial disorders.