Maria Antonia B Dears

Maria Antonia Dears is a seasoned risk management professional based in San Francisco, California, with more than nine years of experience in professional liability and litigation risk within a major academic healthcare environment. In her current role at UCSF Health, she oversees comprehensive risk management functions, including identifying, analyzing, and mitigating potential legal and operational risks across a large healthcare system serving tens of thousands of individuals. Her work focuses on improving patient safety, reducing liability exposure, and supporting institutional compliance and quality standards. Her career began in the legal field after completing law school, where she worked in various roles supporting civil litigation cases, including intellectual property, commercial disputes, and insurance matters. After several years working in various private law firms, she transitioned into healthcare risk management, initially through contract work that led to a full-time position at UCSF Health. Over time, she advanced into an Interim Enterprise Risk Manager and other leadership roles, managing claims and litigation processes, collaborating with attorneys and third-party administrators, conducting incident investigations, and supporting root-cause analyses to improve patient care systems and reduce the recurrence of adverse events. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Health Administration at LSU Shreveport while continuing her professional responsibilities, demonstrating a strong commitment to continuous learning and leadership development. She also holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Maine School of Law, where she focused on intellectual property law and participated in multiple legal organizations. Guided by resilience, discipline, and an “immigrant mindset,” she credits her success to hard work, opportunity, and perseverance, along with a long-standing dedication to service and professional excellence in healthcare risk management.