The Ria Health Team
Our experienced team is committed to transforming alcohol addiction treatment
Our Medical Team
John Mendelson, MD
CMO & PHYSICIAN
Professor of Medicine, UCSF; Senior Research Scientist Friends Research Institute; Medical Director, Bay Area Addiction Research and Treatment (BAART) Programs; Distinguished in Clinical Research and Primary Care Medical Practice.
Paul R. Linde, MD
CLINICAL SUPERVISOR/ PSYCHIATRIST
Over 25 years experience in emergency psychiatric care. Published researcher and author. Clinical Professor Emeritus in Psychiatry at UCSF School of Medicine. International clinical and teaching experience. Former Medical Director, the Stonewall Project.
Samuel Leibovici, MD
PHYSICIAN
Board-certified internist with over 14 years experience in internal medicine, and 5 years clinical experience in addiction treatment. Also an experienced biochemist. Licensed to practice medicine in 7 states.
Linda Hickman
REGISTERED NURSE
Best career decision, joining the Ria Health medical team. After spending the last 10 years working with individuals in a more traditional setting, I am excited about the Ria Health telemedicine platform as a means of expanding access to care.
Trinette L. Radasa, DNP
PSYCHIATRIC MENTAL HEALTH NURSE PRACTITIONER
Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Texas at El Paso, many years of experience as an FNP and PMHNP treating clients with various medical and mental health disorders. Director of the PMHNP-DNP Program at the University of San Francisco, and currently on the medical team at Ria Health.
Ben Gardner, DNP
NURSE PRACTITIONER
Nurse Practitioner with experience in diagnostics, primary care, acute care, chronic
disease care, and case management. Doctor of Nursing Practice from University of San Francisco.
Amber Nelson, CRNP, FNP
NURSE PRACTITIONER
Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) with over a decade of experience in mental healthcare—including eating disorders, smoking cessation, and substance abuse disorders.
Zack Drumm
MEDICAL ASSISTANT
Pursuing a bachelor’s in biopsychology from Tufts University as a pre-med student. Especially interested in pharmacotherapy, medical research, and helping others. Experienced in addiction assistance.
Julien Stainback
CUSTOMER CARE/MEDICAL ASSISTANT
Pre-med student with a bachelor’s in psychology, currently studying under Dr. John Mendelson. Dedicated to maximizing quality of care for patients, and supporting the Ria team through research and development.
Vincent Sutton
MEDICAL ASSISTANT
Pursuing a bachelor’s in Neuropharmacology at Pitzer College. Particularly interested in alternative forms of pharmacotherapy, and treatment for addiction and mood disorders.
Our Coaching Team
Alex Lee, DSW, LCSW
DIRECTOR OF COACHING
Designed over 6 evidence-based interventions; Led large teams in military, academic, government, nonprofit, and community settings to treat addiction & mental health; Start up virtual health clinics in US & Canada; Professor at University of Denver; Clinical expert in addiction, mental health, and trauma.
Laura Vincent
REGISTERED RECOVERY COACH
Passionate about empowering clients to change their relationship with alcohol and build a better quality of life. Experienced helping with addiction, trauma, and mood disorders.
Maricela Ramos
REGISTERED RECOVERY COACH
Dedicated to collaborating with members in utilizing new strategies, and their experience with co-occurring disorders, to achieve their desired relationship with alcohol.
Brenda Lewis
REGISTERED RECOVERY COACH
Over 6 years of experience in substance-abuse counseling, with a background in nonprofit, community-based services. Committed to fighting addiction from a holistic and harm reduction standpoint.
Mauricio Toussaint
REGISTERED RECOVERY COACH
Substance abuse counselor with a background in working with individuals with co-occurring disorders. Experienced in harm reduction and person-centered approaches to treating addiction.
Jonathan Wean
REGISTERED RECOVERY COACH
Certified Drug and Alcohol Counselor with nearly nine years in the field. Extensive experience in harm reduction and medication-assisted treatment, and a great supporter of the pragmatic advantages that the Ria program provides its clients.
Nikki Stern
ENROLLMENT COUNSELOR & REGISTERED RECOVERY COACH
9 years coaching experience. Passionate about supporting people on their path of growth. Psychology degree and background in program development for homeless services, functional medicine, nutrition, yoga, and personal training.
Enrollment Counselors
Marcela Huckaby
ENROLLMENT COUNSELOR
Passionate about building connections with people and supporting them on their growth journey. Background in trauma recovery, and 5 years in the health and wellness field.
Casidy Gregory
ENROLLMENT COUNSELOR
Bachelors in Human Development and Family Studies, and extensive experience in child behavioral health. Currently pursing a Masters of Social Work. Dedicated to giving each person the comfort and attention they deserve on every call.
Lynnquell Gardiner
ENROLLMENT COUNSELOR
Masters in Clinical Psychology with three years of experience in behavioral health. Self-love enthusiast, with a passion for self-actualization and empowering others on their journey to living their definition of a good life.
Aly Tracy
ENROLLMENT COUNSELOR
Life, relationship, and success coach with a background in entrepreneurship, communication, and health and wellness. Personal growth junkie and trauma informed mental health advocate. Passionate about holding space and meeting each member where they’re at.
Our Administrative Team
Tom Nix
CEO
Advisor, growth consultant, CEO; Positioning, Go to market, Marketing & Sales Operations, M&A, and Analytics. CEO with successful exits.
David Deacon, PhD
COO
Entrepreneur, scientist, engineer; Founder CEO or CTO, four tech startups in consumer electronics, telecom; angel investor; NIH Principal Advisor commercialization; 62 US patents.
Bob Nix, PhD
CTO
Entrepreneur, Architect, Technologist; VP R&D and Principal Architect, Athena Health; CTO VP Eng. Peppercoin; Founder or CTO six more startups in fintech, enterprise software, ecommerce.
Lauren Akins
DIRECTOR OF RECRUITMENT
10 years experience in tech and healthcare startups. Passionate about companies that blaze new paths and create new solutions. Dedicated to building teams that help drive that innovation, and supporting candidates on a human level.
Katie Lain Goyatton
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Advocate for pharmacotherapy as an empowering way to overcome alcohol dependence. Background in marketing, media and community building efforts. Personal experience with overcoming alcohol dependence using pharmacotherapy.
Julie Marshall
BILLING SPECIALIST
Twenty-five years in healthcare, incuding fifteen with athenahealth as an SME in both Operations and Revenue Cycle Management. Passionate about working with companies whose mission and purpose is focused on the patient and their healthcare experiences.
Kim Stairs
REVENUE CYCLE MANAGER
Certified athenaNet Jedi Master with over 17 years of teaching experience. Loves teaching athenaNet end-user trainings and showing staff and providers how to work within the system efficiently.
Bruce Hodges
SOCIAL MEDIA
New York-based professional writer, editor, and fundraising consultant, with over three decades of experience in print and online text, public relations, and social media.
Evan O'Donnell
MARKETING ASSISTANT/CONTENT WRITER
Content writer and editor with a background in music marketing and academic research. Dedicated to bridging the “information gap,” making the abstract or complex easier to grasp.
Sam Xu
SOFTWARE DEVELOPER
Enthusiast in building scalable real-time systems. Backend developer for athenaText and Epocrates. Over a decade of experience working with healthcare professionals.
Advisory Board
Claudia Christian
ACTOR, NCPRSS Certified
ADVISOR
Founder of C Three Foundation to help raise awareness of The Sinclair Method treatment for problem drinking. Film & Television actor with over 50 films and television roles to her credit.
Warren Bickel
PhD.
ADVISOR
Director, Addiction Recovery Research Center, Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute; past Wilbur Mills Professor of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Prevention, Department of Psychiatry, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Charles O’Brien
MD. PhD.
ADVISOR
Addiction and Mental Health Appel Professor and Vice Chair Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, U. Pennsylvania; Naltrexone developer; chair DSM-V committee for diagnosis of mental illness and addiction.
Ivan Diamond
MD. PhD.
ADVISOR
Neurology of Alcohol Addiction CSO Amygdala Neurosciences; Senior Advisor, Gilead; Prof. and Vice Chair Neurology, Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology (Emeritus), UCSF; Founding Director, Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center for neuroscience of alcohol on the human brain.