From Engineer to Healthcare Innovator
What began for Gonzalo “Ilo” Romero Lauro (M.B.A. ’05) as an engineering degree program in the 1990s eventually led him to the forefront of healthcare technology leadership.
Originally from Italy, Romero Lauro was completing a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at the University of Palermo in the late 1990s. Although he loved the intellectual challenge of research and problem-solving, the path was financially uncertain, leading him to search for part-time work, which turned into an unexpected opportunity.
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) was building a transplant facility in Palermo, the Istituto Mediterraneo per i Trapianti e Terapie ad Alta Specializzazione (ISMETT), and needed someone with strong technical skills to train physicians and nurses on new computer systems. Romero Lauro applied and soon found himself traveling to Pittsburgh for training.
“I had a hard time understanding spoken English at first,” he says with a laugh. “I’d go back to my hotel room after training and watch television for hours, or fall asleep listening to the radio, just trying to catch as many words as I could.”
What began as a temporary role quickly became a career. Within a few years, Romero Lauro helped build a state-of-the-art transplant facility from the ground up and rose from information technology (IT) manager to director and eventually chief information officer (CIO) of ISMETT—becoming one of the youngest hospital CIOs in Italy.
“Sometimes the best career moves come from saying yes to opportunities that don’t fit into your plans,” he says.
As his responsibilities grew, Romero Lauro realized he needed formal business training to complement his technical background. In the early 2000s—long before video conferencing became routine—New York Tech’s M.B.A. program offered a pioneering online learning experience with virtual teams and collaborative projects.
“It was truly ahead of its time,” says Romero Lauro. “The program allowed professionals around the world to pursue a premium education while continuing their careers.”
Balancing work and coursework required discipline, working full-time before shifting focus to classes and assignments that stretched late into the evening. But the experience proved transformative.
“The best education is when you learn something at 8 p.m. and apply it at work at 8 a.m. the next day,” says Romero Lauro.
While his M.B.A. reshaped his thinking, his personal life reshaped his geography.
“A powerful, irresistible force brought me to America,” he says. “That force was love.” When Romero Lauro and his wife decided to move to the United States, he committed fully. “I burned the ships. I sold our house in Palermo, bought one in Pittsburgh, and went all in.”
At UPMC, he rose to vice president of enterprise provider solutions, overseeing hospital applications across 20 hospitals and 118 imaging centers, and earned two healthcare informatics patents along the way.
Today, Romero Lauro serves as vice president of IT and associate chief information officer at the West Virginia University Health System, a $7 billion, 25-hospital network. He oversees IT for three hospitals and leads digital experience, analytics, and artificial intelligence across the health system. His team’s AI and automation work, built from the ground up, has generated over $26 million in measurable value across clinical and hospital operations.
“It’s my job to help make healthcare smarter and more connected,” says Romero Lauro. “In many ways, I have the best job in the world.”
Beyond technology, Romero Lauro believes leadership is rooted in empathy and collaboration.
“Most of my success has come from the incredible people I’ve worked with,” he says. “Leadership means creating an environment where people feel supported and empowered to do their best work.”
Looking back, Romero Lauro sees a clear thread connecting his engineering roots, his New York Tech M.B.A., and his career in healthcare technology.
“My engineering background taught me how to solve problems,” he says. “New York Tech helped shape my leadership. And healthcare gives me the privilege of making an impact on people’s lives.”
By Kathrin Havrilla Sanchez
This story originally appeared in the spring/summer 2026 issue of New York Institute of Technology Magazine.
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