Dora graduated from Pepperdine University with a degree in Sports Medicine, and later received her doctorate in Public Health from Loma Linda University, where she is currently a faculty member in the Health Policy and Management Department. She is also the executive director and founder of a not-for-profit organization, Partners for Better Health, which promotes health initiatives in local communities.
Before entering higher education, Dora worked with hospitals, providers, health plans, and community-based organizations, implementing innovative alternatives to traditional healthcare that emphasized health improvement through a holistic approach.
When Dora and firefighter husband Tom aren’t working, they are camping with their daughters, Rebecca and Catie, in their RV. One of her favorite places is just outside the Sequoia National Park where her family has owned property since the 1940s. She lives in southern California with her husband, daughters, mother Jeanne, and basset hound Snoopy.