Tessa is a board-certified internist and geriatrician, specializing in caring for older adults. She was born and raised in Metro Manila, Philippines, and earned her medical degree from St. Luke’s College of Medicine in Quezon City. She completed Internal Medicine residency training at McLaren Flint, a 378-bed tertiary teaching hospital in Flint, Michigan. She later served a Geriatrics fellowship at UCLA. Tessa is passionate about helping older persons meet their complex needs in the modern world, and balance these with their preferences at this vulnerable stage in life.

She is involved in mentoring future geriatricians, and hopes to use her medical expertise to advance programs that support seniors through age-friendly health initiatives, wellness events and policy change. Tessa is fluent in Tagalog and English, and resides in the Rancho Peñasquitos neighborhood of San Diego.