Hallandale Beach, Florida

Medical Director, Principal Investigator
Beth Safirstein, MD co-founded MD Clinical (now Velocity Hallandale Beach), a leading research center in South Florida that specializes in clinical trials for Phase 1-4 and diseases of the central nervous system. Dr. Safirstein is a board-certified Neurologist and Principal Investigator for trials involving patients with neuropsychiatric disorders and internal medicine disease. She attended Indiana University for her bachelor’s and medical degrees and completed her residency at the University of Miami Jackson Memorial Health Center. She has been a Principal Investigator since 2000.

Site Director
Yean Alfonso, BS, CCRC joined Velocity in 2010 as a data entry operator, then moved to the position of recruiter and administrator. Yean’s dedication and contributions to site operations have made his tenure as Site Director for Velocity Hallandale Beach a success. He is excellent at maintaining long-lasting professional relationships with returning patients and vendors by always providing focused customer service and support. Yean’s background as an Industrial Engineer gives him a unique perspective on operational challenges. He is fluent in both Spanish and English and uses this skill to engage prospective and participating volunteers. He provides an open-door policy for everyone; employees are encouraged to stop by whenever they feel the need to meet and ask questions, discuss suggestions, and address problems or concerns at any time. He recognizes all team members for a job well done and acknowledges that without our great staff and volunteers we would not have achieved the great success of our site. On his days off, Yean loves to play video games and lounge around his house. Unfortunately, his wife disagrees with how he spends his leisure time and forces him to go shopping instead. Through all the obstacles that will come ahead he will remain focused and maintain a comfortable work environment that will be efficient and reliable.

Principal Investigator
Julio Vijil, MD is a board-certified nephrologist with extensive experience conducting clinical research. After graduating with his medical degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, Dr. Vijil received a Master’s in Public Health from the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health. He has since worked in Nephrology, focusing on dialysis, holding current positions such as Vice Chief of Medicine at Memorial Regional Hospital, Assistant Medical Director, Peritoneal Dialysis at Hollywood Dialysis, and is even an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Florida International University, while serving as a Partner Nephrologist at South Florida Nephrology Consultants, P.L. and as a Principal Investigator with Velocity.

Principal Investigator
Steven Rapp, MD is a board-certified internist with an additional certification in cardiovascular disease. After receiving his medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires, Dr. Rapp began practicing in Argentina before moving to Florida to work in Cardiology. In addition to his extensive experience in conducting clinical research as an investigator, Dr. Rapp has been practicing medicine for over four decades.