Dr. Lisa Stefano grew up in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California, where she enjoyed going to the beach and cultivated a passion for Mexican food and sushi. Even though she loved home, she wanted to spread her wings a bit for college, so she flew about as far as she could go — all the way to the University of Delaware!
She attended Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, in part because her family moved there while she was in college, and she wanted to be close to them again. But she soon discovered that she preferred winters over the Texas heat, so she decided to explore other areas of the country. After one of her mentors recommended Pittsburgh, she came to UPMC Children’s Hospital for her residency and quickly fell in love with the city. She especially loved the small-town-in-a-big-city feel, the civic pride, and the great food.
It didn’t take long for Dr. Stefano to find another reason to stick around. Just three weeks after she started her residency, she met her husband Dan, a brand journalist born and raised on the North Side. They now live in Mt. Lebanon with their bobtail cat Paisley.
In her spare time, Dr. Stefano loves cooking, crafting, gardening, sewing, and singing. She’s performed in talent shows, and once sang the national anthem at her high school’s homecoming.
Dr. Stefano’s professional passions are in young adult and adolescent care (especially young women’s health and contraception), healthy eating and nutrition, and children with special health care needs. Her favorite things about being a pediatrician are kids’ candid nature and their ability to put life into perspective.
As a child, she loved paint-by-number pictures and playing with Barbies, but her favorite toy was an interactive globe and trivia game called GeoSafari World; she would play that thing for hours! The game nurtured her love for travel, so she’s currently working on a world bucket list — including Tokyo.
Dr. Stefano’s favorite place to “play” in Pittsburgh is any Mexican restaurant — her current favorite is Condado downtown. Her favorite meal is chips, queso, and shrimp tacos! (Yum!)