Meet Us

Jeanette is a Southern California native, but traveled to our nation's capital to attend George Washington University School of Medicine. She then couples-matched back to Southern California at Loma Linda University Children's Hospital. Given her experiences throughout residency, she decided to stay as Chief Resident where she is primarily responsible for scheduling for pediatric and visiting residents. She aspires to be a neonatologist and is involved in research on the effect of birth on cerebral oxygenation in term and preterm lambs. She enjoys running, hiking, traveling, eating and baking. 

Ashley grew up between Hawaii and Washington State. She completed medical school at University of Hawaii before being drawn to Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital for residency. Due to her interest in mentorship, Ashley decided to stay for chief year where she will be responsible for scheduling with Jeanette. Ashley is an aspiring future pulmonologist and has her fingers crossed for this year’s match. During her spare time, she loves to find delicious food around the area with her co-residents and watch movies.

Kelly was born and raised in Memphis, TN. She stayed close to home for college at Christian Brothers University and then medical school at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center. She was ecstatic to learn she matched at Loma Linda for residency and packed her bags to move across the country. During residency she made amazing friendships and found wonderful colleagues. During her chief year she will focus on the SAC outpatient clinic, scheduling didactics, and resident wellness. After residency she plans to work as a general pediatrician. Kelly enjoys eating out, watching her favorite shows, reading, and geeking out on nerdy things (proximity to San Diego Comic Con may have been a factor in choosing LLU).

Vallent grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii. He traveled to the East Coast to attend Harvard College, and stayed in Boston for medical school at Tufts University, where he also studied neuroscience. He then moved to California to complete his Pediatrics residency at Loma Linda University Children's Hospital. As one of the four chiefs, Vallent helps to arrange educational activities for the Pediatrics residents. In his spare time, he enjoys comic books, games, volleyball, and going out to eat with friends.

Dr. Riesen went to medical school at Loma Linda University and then stayed for her pediatric residency. Following residency she served with the National Health Service Corp for several years on Indian Reservations in southern California. She then returned to LLU to follow her passion for teaching and academic medicine.  She has a special interest in Behavioral-Developmental Pediatrics as well as Integrative Medicine. She has two daughters who are constantly teaching her new and exciting things, one a pediatrician and the other an aquatic veterinarian. She also loves learning from the residents and faculty in the program.  Dr. Riesen loves spending time with family and friends as well as playing with her two dogs, Bailey and Chloe. She also enjoys trying new foods, all forms of coffee, boba drinks, watching sports/movies and playing timpani in the local orchestra. She is passionate about helping her residents grow and develop into outstanding pediatricians!

Dr. Clark grew up in beautiful San Diego but has made Loma Linda her home since residency.  She completed medical school at Albany Medical College in New York and did her residency at Loma Linda Children’s Hospital.  After completing a chief residency year she stayed on as faculty for the pediatric department and has served in leadership positions for both the SOM and the residency.  She is part of the core faculty that developed the Primary Care Residency Tract for Loma Linda and is passionate about resident education and faculty development. She is currently the Division Chief of General Pediatrics. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, board games, and being outdoors, especially hiking or reading a great novel on the beach.  She and her husband have 2 children, whom she adores, and a bulldog, who thinks she is their third child!

Dr. Loh was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii.  She attended Loma Linda University for both medical school and residency.  You can often overhear her say, “I have the best job ever! I get to have a blast interacting with babies, kiddos, and teens in my University private practice, and then have the privilege to work with residents in the Newborn Nursery and in their Continuity clinic.”  She feels truly blessed to be a part of the Loma Linda Pediatric Residency family. Her special passion is her work with the Professional Development Coaching program for residents. Outside of work, Dr. Loh hangs out with her husband and three sons playing sports, going to the beach, eating out, and traveling. 

Dr. Vercio moved from the Pacific Northwest to attend LLUSOM, and stayed for residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. Since completing residency, he has practiced at LLU at various locations including Beaumont clinic, Moreno Valley Med-Peds, Redlands, and was the medical director of the Pediatric Residency clinic as it transitioned from being a Children's Hospital-based clinic to SAC. Because he and his wife are committed to global service, they spent a year and a half in India in the small town of Ottapalam which gave him a new appreciation for practicing in a relatively rich resource setting.  He is interested in spiritual care, global health, clinical reasoning, teaching medical students and residents, and enjoys music, mountain biking, surfing, camping and hiking.

Dr. Lima attended medical school at Western University/COMP and completed her Pediatric Residency at Loma Linda University.  After residency, she was honored to serve as a Pediatric Chief Resident for one year. After chief year, Katie stayed with the Loma Linda Pediatric faculty as part of the core Pediatric faculty at Riverside University Health Systems (RUHS).  At RUHS, she serves as Vice Chair of the Pediatric Department and Associate Program Director of the Primary Care Track of the Loma Linda Pediatric Residency. Katie's professional interests include resident education and improving pediatric care to the children of Riverside County.  She was born and raised in Southern California and married her high school sweetheart. They have 3 active children. If she is not on the soccer sidelines, she is likely baking a batch of cookies or planning her next Disney trip!

Dr. Tan grew up in Ontario, Canada but came to Loma Linda University for medical school.  She fell in love with Southern California and completed her pediatric residency at LLU. She spent her first post-graduate year doing locum tenens work in every corner of the country, but returned to Loma Linda to join the Pediatric Faculty Group.  In 2009, she began spending the majority of her clinical time at the SAC clinic and had the opportunity to be part of the tremendous growth of this organization leading to an intimate involvement with our LLU Pediatric program. The growth and education of the LLU Pediatric residents is now one of her passions. Joy outside of work includes snow-skiing, houseboating and traveling with my family.

Dr. De La Pena attended UC San Diego for undergraduate, and the University of Wisconsin, Madison for medical school. She did pediatric residency at Loma Linda. After completing pediatrics, she decided on a Pediatric Rheumatology fellowship, which she completed at CHLA. After completing fellowship, she returned to Loma Linda where she is currently an attending physician in Pediatric Rheumatology. She grew up dancing, and especially likes tap dancing. Her favorite hobby is reading. She is married and has two boys, Tyler and Aiden. 

Dr. Tsai was born and raised near Chicago, IL. She studied neurobiology and English literature at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, where she met many of her closest friends through Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and Greek InterVarsity. She completed medical school at New York Medical College, followed by pediatric residency and a chief resident year at Loma Linda. She married her med-peds classmate! She chose to stay at Loma Linda due to her passion for resident education, mentorship, wellness, global health, and advocating for women and minority leadership in medicine. She works as a pediatric hospitalist at Loma Linda University Children's Hospital and Riverside University Health Systems, while her husband alternates between Loma Linda internal medicine inpatient and Moreno Valley Med-Peds outpatient clinic. In their free time, they enjoy traveling, eating, cooking, baking, and spoiling their shiba inu!