Patricia "Pia" Dean JD, llM
Pia has practiced law for over 30 years, specializing in litigation and health law. She graduated with honors from University of Denver College of Law in 1988, when she joined Holland & Hart LLP (partner, 1988-2016). In 2015 she earned her L.LM. in Health Law from University of Loyola Chicago School of Law. Pia founded Medical Legal Partnership in 2015 and has served as its volunteer Executive Director since its inception. She has served on the board of Directors for Colorado AIDS Project (Leadership Award recipient 2000) and Craig Hospital. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Denver Health and Hospital Authority and is a Trustee for the Colorado Hospital Association. A native of Colorado, she is passionate about social justice and equal health access for all Coloradans.
Shana D. Velez JD
Shana has over 14 years of experience practicing in a wide variety of legal areas. She has constantly dedicated herself to representing indigent and underserved populations. She attended school at the University of Arizona where she participated in the immigration legal clinic for a number of semesters. She began her legal career working as a lawyer on the Navajo Nation with DNA - People’s Legal Services. Shana has practiced in a number of different Tribal Courts including the Navajo Nation, Colorado River Indian Tribes and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. Shana was a public defender in Yuma, Arizona, and subsequently did indigent defense appellate work for a firm in Greeley, Colorado. Shana has practiced Indian law, criminal defense, domestic relations law, juvenile law and immigration law.
Shana is fluent in Spanish, having been raised in a bilingual home and also having studied abroad in Quito, Ecuador and Chiapas, Mexico. She was born and raised in the Denver area. In her spare time, she enjoys playing with her two daughters and their Australian cattle dog, “Pickles”.
Marc T. Scanlon JD
Marc Scanlon has been an attorney with Medical Legal Partnership Colorado since it opened its offices at Salud Family Health Center in March 2015. Mr. Scanlon is a graduate of University of Colorado Law School in Boulder, Colorado. Prior to that, he attended Penn State University where he earned a BA in Marketing.
From 2014 - 2015, Mr. Scanlon was the Acequia Project Fellow at the University of Colorado Law School. In this position, he assisted low-income farmers and ranchers in the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado to protect their water rights.
At MLP Colorado, Mr. Scanlon has successfully represented hundreds of client-patients in a wide range of cases including immigration, landlord-tenant disputes, and public benefits appeals and hearings.
Mr. Scanlon is a member of the Colorado Bar Association and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Angela Sauaia, MD,PhD
Dr. Sauaia has more than 25 years of experience in health services and health outcomes research, and is internationally known for her research in post-injury care. She is a co-investigator in the NIH-funded, 20-year Trauma Center Grant, which has changed several aspects of current post-trauma care, especially in the areas of blood transfusions, multiple organ failure and early coagulopathy. Dr. Sauaia is also a co-investigator in the COMBAT (Control Of Major Bleeding in Acute Trauma) study and the LITES study, funded by the Department of Defense as well as the NIH-supported Colorado TACTIC (Trans-Agency Research Consortium for Trauma-Induced Coagulopathy).
Dr. Sauaia is a nationally-recognized expert in the area of health equity. She led the federally-funded Tepeyac Project, which successfully diminished disparities in cancer screening among Latinas in Colorado using a church-based navigator program, and the state funded project TEACH (Teaching Equity to Advance Community Health) - a capacity-building, training program for community-based organizations engaged in reducing health inequities.
Her book "The Quest for Health Equity" bears witness to the health inequities that plague our great nation, and brings hope that change is indeed possible and within reach.
As a Latina immigrant herself, bicultural and multilingual, Dr. Sauaia brings her own personal history to the table and has gained the trust of the local underserved communities, based on a history of respect and candidness. At the same time, she has built a reputation as an evidence-based scientist with a solid publication and grant record.
C. Paige Gardner JD
C. Paige Gardner is an immigration attorney and the Principal at Gardner Immigration Law, P.C. Ms. Gardner serves as the Immigration Consultant with MLP Colorado, providing guidance and case supervision on immigration matters.
Ms. Gardner graduated from the University of Colorado Law School in 2002. Prior to that, she obtained a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, double majoring in French and International relations. Ms. Gardner has successfully represented clients in Immigration Court, and before the United States citizenship and Immigration Services, the Board of Immigration Appeals, the Federal District Court of Colorado, and the Tenth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals.
Ms. Gardner has lectured on various topics in Immigration Law, and currently serves on the Pro Bono Mentoring Panel for the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy network. She is a member of the American Immigration lawyers Association.