Speaker Biographies

Abdul’s primary responsibility is investigating and resolving patient claims. Abdul uses his combination of medical training and legal skills critical in reviewing unanticipated adverse treatment outcomes pursuant to Stanford’s Process for Early Assessment and Resolution of Loss (PEARL). Abdul received his JD degree from Santa Clara University School of Law and is admitted to the California bar. Abdul holds an MPH from Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center. Abdul also received his MBBCh from Cairo University Faculty of Medicine and was a licensed physician in Egypt.

Dana Orquiza is a healthcare risk management professional whose experience includes working as a medical-surgical nurse for over 10 years and as an associate attorney specializing in medical malpractice defense.

Dana currently serves as Director in Risk Management providing consultation to Stanford Health Care, Stanford Children’s Health, University Health Care Alliance (UHA) and Packard Children’s Health Alliance (PCHA).  Her combination of clinical experience and legal expertise is instrumental in providing innovative risk management solutions designed to effectively reduce risk and identify opportunities to increase value.

Dana works closely with hospital, medical and physician leadership throughout the full cycle of the risk management process. This process includes the identification and assessment of high risk clinical departments/specialties, severity of injuries, contributing factors, the evaluation of potential solutions, the selection of strategy and mitigation projects and monitoring progress to goals.

She received her BSN from Georgetown University and her JD degree from the Columbus School of Law, the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. 

Dana Welle has more than 16 years of clinical experience as an obstetrician-gynecologist. After completing her residency in a large tertiary academic medical center, she began private practice where she continued to manage high risk obstetric cases as well as perform complicated gynecological surgery. She is a fellow in the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) and also a fellow in the American College of Surgeons (ACS). Although she is no longer directly involved in patient care, she continues her pursuit of medical knowledge and remains active in both ACOG and ACS.

Dana currently serves as Chief Medical Officer of Stanford University Medical Network Risk Authority, LLC (The Risk Authority), and as the physician risk consultant for Stanford Health Care and Stanford Children’s Health. Her responsibilities include conducting risk assessments, consulting with and educating healthcare providers and staff, and investigating potential claims. She is also Co-Chairman of the Stanford Committee for Professional Satisfaction and Support, previously the Wellness Committee, and the Director of the Peer Support Program. Dana’s combined educational degrees, coupled with her clinical background, places Dana in a unique position. She is able to use both her medical and legal insight to strengthen the relationship between the medical staff and The Risk Authority and bring a different perspective to addressing risk management issues.

Dana received her BS in Kinesiology from the University of California at Los Angeles, her DO degree from the Western University of Health Sciences, and her JD degree from Santa Clara University School of Law. She is a member of the state bar of California.

Jason DiLorenzo is the Founder of Doctors Without Quarters, LLC, a national student debt advisory firm dedicated to the financial wellness of early-career graduate health professionals. Since 2010, he has served as an expert lecturer and panelist for graduate schools, hospitals, and at national conferences on the increasingly complex and evolving topic of student loan best practices and federal loan legislation that can benefit many of today's young professionals.

Jason graduated with a BBA in Finance from Stetson University. When he’s not working with young doctors to strategically reduce their debt, you’ll likely find him in the mountains on a snowboard or in a pair of hiking shoes, playing volleyball, or taking in an outdoor concert.

Leilani uses her own experience with medical errors to navigate between the often insular, legal and administrative sides of medical error; and the emotional side of the patient and family experience. Her work at Stanford Health Care gives her a unique view of the importance and complex realities of transparency, disclosure and apology.

Mark joined The Risk Authority last year as an AVP of Risk Management. He is responsible for the daily operations and administration for the two insurance entities that cover Professional Liability for SHC/ LPCH/ SOM/ UHA/ PCHA: PEAC and SUMIT, as well all other commercial insurance lines. He has 20+ years underwriting experience with major insurance carriers specializing in  Medical Professional and General Liability, Workers Compensation and Commercial Automobile. Mark serves as a consultant to the Office of General Counsel regarding insurance related matters and is a member of the SHC Supply Chain Improvement Steering Committee.

Ms. Trujillo’s interest in health care began in the early 1980’s managing a community health care center in her native San Jose, CA, working full-time and attending school part-time to pay her college expenses. 

She joined Stanford University in 1984 working with the Faculty Practice Program patient accounting unit for Stanford University Hospital and Clinics, and after three years, went on to manage the outpatient Oncology Clinic. 

In the teaching environment of the clinic, she was introduced to the academic side of medicine and recruited for the position of Manager of the Office of Student Affairs for the School of Medicine in 1989.  For the following 10 years, she served as the administrative services manager for the office and  was involved in multiple aspects of providing support for the medical student population. In 1998, she transitioned into financial aid as an assistant director and shortly after to director of financial aid, the position which she currently holds.

Even though she had set her career goal in health care administration, financial aid has been a fulfilling alternative and a pleasant detour.  The role has provided a bridge between her interests in health care administration by that of managing resources needed for physician training.  She earned her BS in Business Administration from San Jose State University in 1984 and Master in Public Administration, Health Services Administration in 1988 from the University of San Francisco. 

She has served on various AAMC task forces, including the AAMC’s Working Group on Educational Costs and Debt and a three-year term as the liaison to the Group on Student Affairs-Minority Affairs Section Minority Affairs Committee to the Committee on Student Financial Assistance (COSFA).  She has also conducted and presented at many pre-med work- shops including Stanford’s annual SUMMA and URC/AMSA conference at UC Davis.

Dr. Robert A. Harrington is an interventional cardiologist and the Arthur L. Bloomfield Professor of Medicine and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Stanford University. Dr. Harrington was previously the Richard Sean Stack, MD Distinguished Professor and the Director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) at Duke University. His research interests include evaluating antithrombotic therapies to treat acute ischemic heart disease and to minimize the acute complications of percutaneous coronary procedures, studying the mechanism of disease of the acute coronary syndromes, understanding the issue of risk stratification in the care of patients with acute ischemic coronary syndromes, building local, national and international collaborations for the efficient conduct of innovative clinical research and trying to better understand and improve upon the methodology of clinical trials. His research has been extensively funded through NIH, NIA, other peer reviewed agencies and private industry. Committed to training and mentorship, Harrington has served as the principal mentor for 22 post-doctoral clinical research fellows focused on cardiovascular research. Of the 22, fifteen are currently employed in academic faculty positions around the globe.

He has authored more than 450 peer-reviewed manuscripts, reviews, book chapters, and editorials. Thomson Reuters lists him as one of the most cited investigators in clinical medicine from 2002-2012. He is an associate editor of the American Heart Journal and an editorial board member for the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. He has served as editor of five textbooks and is a senior editor of the 13th and 14th editions of Hurst’s The Heart, one of the leading textbooks of cardiovascular medicine. He has been a member of the NHLBI’s Clinical Trials Study Section and the IOM’s Working Group on Data Sharing. He served as a member of the NIH NCATS Advisory Council Working Group on the IOM CTSA Program. He recently served as a member and the chair of the US Food and Drug Administration Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee.

Harrington is currently a member of the American College of Cardiology Board of Trustees where he serves as Chair of the Life-Long Learning Oversight Committee. Harrington is a member of the American HeartAssociation’s (AHA) Board of Directors and its Science Advisory and Coordinating Committee and served as the Chair for the AHA’s Scientific Sessions in 2013 and 2014. Harrington is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, the Society for Cardiac Angiography and Intervention, the European Society of Cardiology, the American College of Chest Physicians and the American College of Physicians. He is an elected member of the Association of American Physicians and the Association of University Cardiologists.

Harrington received his BA in English at the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA. He attended Dartmouth Medical School and received his MD from Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston MA. He did his internship, residency and served as the chief resident in internal medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester MA. He trained in cardiology, interventional cardiology and clinical research (Duke Databank for Cardiovascular Disease) at Duke University Medical Center, Durham NC where he was a faculty member from 1993-2012 Before joining the Stanford University faculty in 2012. Interested in innovative learning tools, including novel methods of communicating scientific information, Harrington hosts a regular podcast on theheart.org, The Bob Harrington Show, and can be followed on Twitter @HeartBobH.

Stephen Ryu is a neurosurgeon at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Deputy Chief of Neurosurgery at Stanford University Hospital, and a consulting Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford. He has a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Neurosciences at Stanford. He has an MD from UCSD. He did his internship, residency, and spine fellowship at Stanford. He was on the neurosurgery faculty at Stanford for four years prior to going to PAMF. 

Stephen is part of a very busy community practice performing over 300 neurological surgeries a year. In addition, he lectures internationally on spinal surgery and has close relationships with industry partners. He serves on the board of directors of a few surgical societies. He also has done research and published extensively on brain machine interfacing research in collaboration with with Professor Krishna Shenoy and Karl Deisseroth with funding through DARPA, the NIH, and the White House BRAIN Initiative. 

Stephen is involved in undergraduate advising and is also an active mentor for pre-medical students. He especially enjoys teaching socioeconomic courses for residents and fellow. For many years, he has lectured nationally about the transition to practice, surviving life after residency, and the pursuit of happiness. 

“Life is simple, but we insist on making it complicated” - Confucius