Dr. Alvarez obtained a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of Dayton, Ohio (1974). He received his doctorate in Biochemistry from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ in 1979. He was an NIH Postdoctoral fellow and a Wound Healing Fellow at the Department of Dermatology, University of Miami School of Medicine from 1979-1982. Dr. Alvarez is the recipient of the 21st Annual John Boswick Award for lifelong achievement and dedication in the field of wound care. Dr. Alvarez has been awarded 90 research grants. Among them, The National Institute of Health Training Award to study dermal-epidermal interactions during wound repair, U. S. Army Medical Research and Development Command Award to study epidermal migration in partial thickness wounds and National Institute of Health grant to study Emotional Stress and Wound Healing in Diabetics. Dr. Alvarez served as a member of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, a panel for guideline development in the prevention and management of pressure ulcers. Dr. Alvarez is the Founder and Chairman of FRAIL (for the recognition of the adult immobilized life). FRAIL is a panel seeking solutions for skin related complications of adults with chronic illness. Dr. Alvarez served as the Director of the Curative and Palliative Wound Care Center at Calvary Hospital, Bronx, NY from 2004-2016, and as Program Director of the Vascular and Wound Care Center at University Hospital, Newark, NJ from 2017-2020. Dr. Alvarez has held faculty positions with: The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine; Cornell University Medical College; Rockefeller University and New York Medical College. Dr. Alvarez is a founding editor of the journal WOUNDS and is Senior Editor of Wound Repair and Regeneration. He has authored over 200 peer- reviewed wound care publications and has been principal investigator in more than 60 major clinical trials.

Currently, Dr. Alvarez is Program Director (Emeritus), Vascular and Wound Care Center and Professor (Adjunct) in the Department of Surgery at Rutgers, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ. He is also a Voluntary Associate Professor, Phillip Frost Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL