Meet Daniel Boñaga, SBC’s new Director of Quality & Regulatory Affairs
By Julie Peachey
When Daniel Boñaga, a physician in the Philippines, moved to the U.S. in 1995, he took his first job as a phlebotomist with Virginia Blood Services. It would be 18 years before relocating west and accepting his new role as Stanford Blood Center’s director of quality & regulatory affairs.
With almost two decades of experience in blood banking, Daniel has seen the industry from several different angles. Starting on the front lines as a phlebotomist in Virginia, he also held roles including education coordinator (training the new collections staff as they came on board), director of information technology, and director within the quality and regulatory affairs (QRA) department where he spent 10 years.
Now heading the QRA team at SBC, his responsibilities include keeping up with the licenses and regulations of our laboratories, maintaining compliance, and being proactive about meeting requirements. “Stanford Blood Center is full of well-experienced folks coming from a variety of blood centers. We work collaboratively and take little steps toward change to achieve best practices.”
Daniel has a knack for perfecting his skills. His background as a Six Sigma Black Belt has taught him about statistical analysis and how to better use data to arrive at sound conclusions. He credits this methodology for his ability to grow both professionally and in his various hobbies and activities.
Daniel’s wife and two boys, ages 6 and 10, will remain in Virginia until the end of the school year. He misses cooking for them, one of his many skills, and they undoubtedly miss it as well. “I’m a good cook,” he boasts lightheartedly. He claims to know how to recreate any recipe simply by tasting the dish!
Until reuniting with his family this summer, he’ll spend his extracurricular time practicing his favorite sport: archery. “It’s a practical exercise. A good way to relax, focus, concentrate, and refine skills. You have to study every shot you make and readjust as necessary by determining the root cause,” he explains. “Just like the work I do at SBC.”