Faces of San Diego 2026

For too many women, pain becomes a long wait. Years of appointments. Symptoms explained away. A diagnosis that arrives, on average, seven years after the pain began. Dr. Anita Gupta has spent her career working to shorten that wait.

An anesthesiologist and pain medicine physician on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Dr. Gupta was named a San Diego Magazine 2026 Health Pioneer finalist and honored by the California State Assembly as a 2026 Distinguished Woman in Medicine. Her clinical focus is the conditions women are most often told to live with: pelvic pain, endometriosis-related pain, fibromyalgia, migraine, and chronic pain that follows childbirth or surgery.

The numbers explain why the work matters. Nearly one in four adults lives with chronic pain, and women carry a heavier share of its most disabling forms. Endometriosis affects up to fifteen percent of women of reproductive age, and it can take years to diagnose. Women spend about 25 percent more of their lives in poor health than men, much of it in pain that was never fully worked up.

Modern pain medicine offers more than it used to. Image-guided injections and nerve blocks can pinpoint and quiet specific pain generators. Neuromodulation can calm overactive pain pathways when medications fall short. New non-opioid therapies, including the first new fibromyalgia treatment approved in more than fifteen years, give physicians options that did not exist a decade ago. And multidisciplinary care, pairing medical treatment with pelvic floor physical therapy, behavioral health, and nutrition, treats the whole picture rather than a single symptom.

Dr. Gupta writes and speaks nationally on women’s pain, and advises the health innovators working to change it. San Diego, home to one of the country’s great life sciences communities, is exactly the place to expect better answers.

Vivian Hardage, Co-Founder

Vivian Hardage turned a mother’s heartbreak into a global movement. When her son was born with ocular albinism, a rare genetic vision disorder, in 1989, doctors offered “no treatment, no cure, no hope.” She and husband Sam refused to accept this, founding the Vision of Children Foundation in 1991. “I was just a mom wondering what we could do to help our son live a normal life,” she recalls. “And Sam’s comment was: We’re going to fix this.” Today, Vision of Children is the world’s leading supporter of research into related genetic vision disorders, currently funding work at UC San Diego’s Shiley Eye Institute, the University of Pittsburgh, and Weill Cornell Medicine.

12555 High Bluff Drive, Suite 330, San Diego, California 92130 | 858-314-7916
@visionofchildren | visionofchildren.org

Jennifer Davis, MD, MSCP; Taylor Stafford, DNP, MSCP

Dr. Jennifer Davis was a successful pediatrician in her mid-40s when she suddenly started feeling not like herself. Poor sleep, mood changes, fatigue, brain fog, and eventually hot flashes led her to realize she was in perimenopause. When she sought help, she found few local practices offering evidence-based, FDA-approved hormone therapy—and long waits to see those who did. Determined to help change that, she became certified by the Menopause Society and founded San Diego Menopause to provide women with the knowledgeable, compassionate care she had struggled to find.

At San Diego Menopause, Dr. Davis and nurse practitioner Taylor Stafford provide comprehensive, evidence-based care for perimenopause and menopause, including hormonal and non-hormonal treatments for symptoms including hot flashes, brain fog, sleep and mood changes, low libido and sexual health concerns. “Women deserve to be heard, believed, and taken seriously. I know firsthand how debilitating these symptoms can be,” Dr. Davis says. “Our mission is to empower women and give them their lives back.”

3160 Camino del Rio S, Suite 315, San Diego, California 92108 | 619-377-9909
@sandiegomenopause | sandiegomenopause.com

Marisa Calderon, President and CEO

As President and CEO of Prosperity Now, Marisa Calderon believes prosperity means having the resources, stability, information, and opportunity to make real choices about your life and your family’s future. “That is what prosperity means to me: having enough room to choose,” Calderon says. “To decide what is right for you and what you want your life to become.”

Under her leadership, Prosperity Now turns that belief into practical solutions that help families claim money they have earned, buy homes, grow businesses, protect what they have built, and create opportunities for their children. Calderon’s approach starts with people’s real lives. Programs, policies, and partnerships matter when they make choices more possible and systems easier to navigate.

“Our job is to help people build the life they want,” she says. “That means making sure they have the resources and opportunities to choose what prosperity looks like for themselves and their families.”

@marisalcalderon | prosperitynow.org

Dina Hemmi, Founder and CEO

San Diego entrepreneur Dina Hemmi is reimagining modern hiring and job hunting with Let’s Role. Drawing on her executive recruiting experience, the founder and CEO created a mobile-first, swipe-based platform inspired by dating apps. Personality, experience, work style, and workplace vibe come first, not résumés.

Job seekers share video profiles, skills, and music, while employers showcase their culture and open roles through manager introductions and company reels. Voice memos, in-app conversations, and automated workflows simplify hiring.

Let’s Role covers 2,500 industries, including restaurants, hospitality, event staffing, retail, customer service, warehousing, and logistics. 

National expansion is planned for early 2027. The first 100 San Diego employers to join receive six months of free job postings and full applicant tracking system access.

Hemmi’s mission is to change how the world hires, connecting talent with workplaces where they belong. Real people, real jobs, right now.

Headquarters in San Diego, California | 858-267-4590
@letsroleai | letsrole.ai