Dr. Morales was born and raised in New York. She attended Harvard University where she received an A.B. degree in Biology. She obtained her MD from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and did residency training in Internal Medicine at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. She subsequently joined the CPMC faculty of the Division of General Medicine, and served as an Assistant Division Director for Education and Training. She joined the New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell faculty in 1998 and is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine and Vice Chair for Diversity in the Department of Medicine. She directs the Diversity Center of Excellence of the Cornell Center for Health Equity. She is an Associate Director of the Residency Training Program in Internal Medicine.  Dr. Morales is Secretary of the Society of General Internal Medicine and is a board member of the United Hospital Fund and the Latino Commission on AIDS. She has served on the boards of Public Health Solutions and the Women's Housing and Economic Development Corporation and was an advisory board member of both the Commonwealth Fund's "Bettering the Health of Minority Americans" and the Columbia University Institute on Medicine as a Profession Physician Advocacy Fellowship.