UC REGENTS - Key Persons
Bene Gatzert - Chief Strategy Officer
Job Titles:
- Chief Strategy Officer
- UHS As a Staff Member
Bene Gatzert joined UHS as a staff member in 1989. Her "first career" was as a health educator in the Health Promotion unit, working directly with students in peer programs and with HIV/AIDS and sexual violence prevention programs. In her "second career" in healthcare administration, she still engages with and learns from students through a number of advisory committees and a liaison role with student government. In her work with UHS and campus colleagues, she loves facilitating discussions, helping teams create solutions to address complex issues, and supporting the organization through change. Bene is also co-chair of the UHS Justice, Inclusion, and Community Committee.
Bene received her BA from Berkeley and her MPA from San Francisco State. She has a passion for travel, can be found on wildlife safaris with her wife, and loves reading, yoga, and hiking.
Job Titles:
- Student Health Insurance Plan )
Job Titles:
- Health Promotion Director
Cathy Kodama came to UC Berkeley as an open-minded but (mostly) inexperienced freshman in 1973. Being in, and at, Berkeley was a life-changing experience that she's still experiencing. Cathy was pre-law, but in her sophomore year, she fell into being a peer educator in women's health and never looked back.
Cathy had her first full-time job at UHS in Medical Records. From there, she hopscotched to the Health Education unit, to graduate school in public health, to various community volunteer projects, and back to Health Education (now called Health Promotion) at UHS. Cathy is a baby boomer, UC Berkeley alum, health educator, and firm believer in health, happiness, equality, and social action. She is a third-generation Japanese-American with all the cultural richness and assimilation experiences that come along with that. Cathy has been involved in numerous regional and national organizations, including serving as President of the Pacific Coast College Health Association and on the board of the American College Health Association.
Cathy's passionate interests are 1) the role of drugs in society, 2) sexuality and relationships, and 3) some TV shows. Her particular abilities tend to be daydreaming (in the professional world we call it "visioning") and administrative work. She loves talking about life with students, whose perspectives are so enlightening and inspiring.
Cori joined UHS after working as a Corporate Wellness Manager where she provided fitness and health management services to companies in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Cori oversees the Be Well at Work - Wellness Program on the UC Berkeley campus where she manages programs, services, policies, and events for faculty and staff. Cori has worked in the field of worksite wellness for over 16 years and is purpose-driven to create and sustain a culture of equity, health and well-being for the campus community.
She received her MA in Sport Management from USF and her BS in Exercise Science from UC Davis where she competed in Track and Field. She went on to play Women's Tackle Football for nearly ten years post-college and now enjoys officiating for USATF, golf, hiking excursions, traveling with friends, and hanging out with her puppy and kitty. Cori is originally from Wichita, Kansas, home of the Wichita State Shockers.
Job Titles:
- Director for Be Well at Work
- Interim Associate Vice Chancellor
Craig Mielcarski has been the Director for Be Well at Work - Faculty/Staff Health Programs (which includes Disability Management Services, Elder Care, Employee Assistance, Ergonomics, Wellness, and Work/Life programs) since 2018. He previously worked as the Director of Employee Assistance starting in 2008. Craig received his BA in Psychology from Amherst College and his MSW from Boston University. He is a licensed clinical social worker and certified employee assistance professional with over 20 years of clinical, organizational, and leadership experience in business, government, and academic settings.
Craig has additional expertise in threat assessment, intimate partner violence, critical incident response, organizational change, and management consultation. Passionate about individual and organizational health and wellness, Craig also has extensive experience providing coaching and consultation to individuals at all levels of a work organization.
Dr Goldstein joined UHS as an Urgent Care Physician in 2023. He received is BA from UC Santa Cruz and MD from UC Irvine. He completed his residency at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center in Family Medicine.
Dr. Goldstein spent thirty years practicing Emergency Medicine in County and Community Hospitals prior to coming to UHS. He served in a variety of Administrative Leadership roles for Contra Costa County including Chief of Emergency Medicine, County EMS Medical Director, and Chief Medical Officer for Contra Costa County Hospital, Clinics, and Detention Health. During the Covid pandemic, he focused primarily on medical care and housing for homeless populations as Deputy County Health Officer.
Outside of work Dr Goldstein spends most of his time with his wife and two daughters as well as playing as much Chamber Music as possible.
Dr. Simon-Weisberg joined UHS in 2023 as working in primary care, urgent care, and specialty clinic with minor procedures clinic. She is a California native and grew up in Fresno. Dr. Simon-Weisberg received a BA in Environmental Science from Barnard College of Columbia University, and an MD from The George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She completed her Family Medicine internship at Ventura County Medical Center and her Family Medicine residency at the Contra Costa County Regional Medical Center.
Dr. Simon-Weisberg spent most of her career practicing all ages family medicine including hospital-based labor and delivery in safety net healthcare settings. She also spent many years engaging in medical education and academic medicine. She joined UHS after working at a community health center, where she served as the Family Medicine Residency Program Director. Her clinic interests include whole-person care, reproductive health care including obstetrics and gynecology, minor procedures, group medical care, and Type1 and Type 2 diabetes. Dr. Simon-Weisberg is passionate about healthcare system innovation including promoting patient-centered, team-based care and the medical home model of care.
To support her work-life balance and joy Dr. Simon-Weisberg attends Hip hop and Salsa suelta dance classes as well as sings songs in the car (much to the chagrin of her teenage kids)
Dr. Simon-weisberg is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.
Job Titles:
- Certified Family Medicine Physician
Dr. Amy Hockenbrock is a board certified family medicine physician with a certificate of added qualification in primary care sports medicine. Dr. Hockenbrock's interests include sports medicine, LGBTQ care and women's care. Dr. Hockenbrock was an undergraduate at UC Berkeley where she studied Molecular and Cell Biology and led Cal's women's soccer team to multiple playoff berths from 1996 through 2000.
She received her M.D. from Chicago Medical School and then returned to San Jose for residency and primary care sports medicine fellowship at O'Connor Hospital. Following fellowship, Dr. Hockenbrock was an attending physician at Family Medicine Associates of San Jose before joining West Coast Sports Institute. From 2018-2019 she worked for Planned Parenthood as Interim Transgender Program Director for the Mar Monte region. Through this experience she was able to combine her sports medicine knowledge with her expertise in transgender care. Dr. Hockenbrock recently rejoined the Cal community as an Associate Team Physician, bringing her skills in sports medicine and gender affirming care to UC Berkeley.
Dr. Anna Harte (née Bloxham) joined UHS in 2001. Dr. Harte was appointed Medical Director in January 2017 after serving as Associate Medical Director from 2011-2016. She received her BA in Music from UC Santa Cruz (1992), her MD from Yale University (1998), and completed her residency in Primary Care Internal Medicine at UC San Francisco (2001).
Dr. Harte has a special clinical interest in tuberculosis, HIV and infectious diseases, travel medicine, transgender health, and the care of underserved populations. She serves as a primary care provider on our UHS Trans Care Team and also consults for the City of Berkeley Public Health Division's Tuberculosis Program. Dr. Harte still loves music, which she shares with her husband Alexis and children Mia and Leo.
Dr. Harte is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine.
Job Titles:
- UHS in 2009 As a Physician
Dr. Annie Hope joined UHS in 2009 as a physician in Primary Care. Dr. Hope received her BA from Harvard University (1986), her MD from UC Los Angeles (1994), and completed her Family Practice residency at Moses Cone (1998). When she isn't working, you can find Dr. Hope hiking, reading, or driving her children (all five) to after-school activities.
Dr. Hope is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.
Dr. Cindy Chang is a specialist in primary care sports medicine, with over 25 years of experience caring for athletes of all ages and levels, from archery and aquatic sports to wrestling and wheelchair basketball. She was the head team physician at the University of California, Berkeley for all 27 intercollegiate sports, including football, for 13 years. She also served as chief medical officer for Team USA during the 2008 Beijing Paralympics and 2012 London Olympics.
As a lifelong competitive athlete, Chang has dealt with multiple injuries of her own, and this personal experience informs her empathetic, individualized approach. She has been a youth sports coach, and her children have played a variety of sports at all levels of competition, with one currently playing Level 1 professional soccer overseas.
Chang enjoys educating her patients about their injuries, sharing findings from examinations and imaging studies, and involving them on decisions regarding appropriate treatment options. She provides referrals to her orthopedic surgeon colleagues or other subspecialists as needed, and also places an emphasis on how to prevent future injury and illness.
Chang sees athletes of all ages at the UCSF Berkeley OutPatient Center (BOPC) and the Sports Medicine Center at the Orthopaedic Institute at Mission Bay. She sees solely youth athletes at the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Sports Medicine Center for Young Athletes, where she is co-director of the Sports Concussion Program.
Job Titles:
- UHS in 2013 As a Physician
Dr. David Turnoff joined UHS in 2013 as a physician in Primary and Urgent Care. Dr. Turnoff received his BS and BSE from the University of Pennsylvania and his MD from Case Western Reserve University. Having worked in student health services at both New York University and Columbia University, Dr. Turnoff comes to UHS with a wealth of college population experience. He has a special clinical interest in infectious disease, musculoskeletal injuries, travel medicine, and preventive medicine.
Job Titles:
- UHS in 2014 As a Physician
Dr. Dennis Shusterman joined UHS in 2014 as a physician in Occupational Health. Dr. Shusterman received his BA in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College (1971), his MD from UC Davis (1978), and his MPH in Environmental Health Sciences from UC Berkeley (1982).
Dr. Shusterman is the author of roughly 90 peer-reviewed publications and received the Clean Air Award for Research from Breathe California in 2013. He has a special clinical interest in glove dermatitis occupational rhinitis and asthma and vocal cord dysfunction.
Dr. Shusterman is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and the American Board of Preventive (Occupational and Environmental) Medicine.
Dr. Eleanore Kim grew up in central Illinois. She received her undergraduate degree in molecular biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her medical degree from the University of Illinois. After completing residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco, she joined a private practice group in Berkeley for 7 years as a general obstetrician and surgical gynecologist before becoming part of the clinical staff at Tang in 2009.
Dr. Kim is board certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She is a member of the Volunteer Clinical Faculty at UCSF and Touro Medical Schools and a member of the American College Health Association.
Dr. Kim specializes in gynecology and women's health with a particular interest in contraception, cervical cancer screening, preconceptional health and family planning. She has given lectures at UCSF, UC Berkeley, and in the community on women's health topics. Her current projects involve long-acting contraception, family planning, and improving health equity and access for students. Recreational interests include hiking, visiting national parks, and enjoying musical theater.
Job Titles:
- UHS in 2011 As a Physician
Dr. Erika Schwilk joined UHS in 2011 as a physician in Occupational Health. She transitioned into the Occupational and Environmental Health Chief role in 2018 after six months in the interim position. Dr. Schwilk received her BA in Biology (with environmental emphasis) from Occidental College, her MD from the Medical College of Wisconsin, and completed training in Internal Medicine at UC Davis where she worked as a hospitalist. Dr. Schwilk then completed fellowship training in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at UC San Francisco and obtained her MPH in Environmental Health from UC Berkeley.
Job Titles:
- UHS in 2018 As a Physician
Dr. Heather Readhead joined UHS in 2018 as a physician in Primary and Urgent Care. She received her BA from Bowdoin College in Family Medicine, her MD from Penn State College of Medicine, her MPH from UCLA School of Public Health, and she completed her residency at Columbia University. Dr. Readhead also serves on the American College of Preventative Medicine's Diabetes Prevention Advisory Board. She has a special clinical interest in mental health, weight loss, women's health, preventive care, public health, and emergency disaster management.
Dr. Readhead is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.
Dr. Howard Backer joined UHS in 2000 as a clinician in Urgent Care. He received his MD from UC San Francisco (1975) and completed an internship at Highland Hospital in Alameda County followed by an Emergency Medicine fellowship and residency at San Francisco General Hospital.
Many years later, Dr. Backer returned to UC San Francisco for a residency in Preventive Medicine and completed his MPH at UC Berkeley (1999). Before transitioning to public health, Dr. Backer worked with the Permanente Medical Group in Hayward. After practicing emergency medicine for 25 years in urban county hospitals, community hospitals, and small resort communities, Dr. Backer joined the California Department of Health Services in 2000.
Dr. Backer is certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine.
Job Titles:
- UHS in 2019 As a Physician
Dr. Jeff Chiu joined UHS in 2019 as a physician in Urgent Care. He also currently works as an attending physician in the emergency room. Dr. Chiu received his BA in Molecular Cell Biology, BS in Business Administration (UC Berkeley), MS in Medical Sciences, and DO (Touro University). He has a special clinical interest in urgent care, emergency, critical care, and point-of-care ultrasound.
Dr. Chiu is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.
Job Titles:
- Team Physician for the University of California
Dr. Jeffrey Mann is a native of Oakland, and has been practicing Orthopedic Surgery in Oakland for 20 years. After completing his orthopedic surgery residency at UC San Francisco, Dr. Mann completed fellowship training in sports medicine at Lake Tahoe, a second in foot and ankle surgery in Oakland. His practice focuses on complex foot and ankle reconstruction including ankle replacements and deformity correction, sports medicine problems of the knee and ankle, total knee replacements, and fracture treatment of the foot and ankle.
Dr. Mann has published book chapters and written scientific papers about numerous topics, including ankle replacement surgery, ankle arthroscopy and cartilage repair techniques, bunion repair, and ankle ligament injuries. Dr. Mann lectures regularly at orthopedic meetings across the country, and is a national expert in cartilage repair techniques and ankle replacements. Dr. Jeffrey Mann helped pioneer the use ankle replacements in this country, after he and a team brought the STAR ankle replacement over from Europe. He has been performing the STAR ankle replacement for almost 20 years.
Dr. Mann is a team physician for the University of California at Berkeley sports teams. He also volunteers at the students' clinic at UC Berkeley. He spends his free time with his family, mostly exploring the outdoors.
Job Titles:
- UHS in 2014 As a Physician
Dr. Jeffrey Weitzman joined UHS in 2014 as a physician in Urgent Care. Dr. Weitzman received his BA from Pennsylvania State University, and his MD from Drexel University, and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Massachusettes Medical Center. He has a special clinical interest in career mentoring for health-related fields.
Dr. Weitzman is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine.
Job Titles:
- UHS in 2013 As a Physician
Dr. Julie Thompson joined UHS in 2013 as a physician in Urgent Care. Dr. Thompson received her BS in Mathematics from Metropolitan State University (2004), her MD from the University of Colorado (2008), and completed an Internal Medicine residency and a Palliative Care fellowship at UC San Francisco (2011, 2012). In addition to working at UHS, Dr. Thompson also works with seriously ill patients at a South Bay palliative care clinic. She's also worked at Student Health Services at San Francisco State.
Dr. Thompson is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine.
Job Titles:
- UHS in 2014 As a Physician
Dr. Leslie Gee joined UHS in 2014 as a physician in Primary Care. She received her MD from the University of Chicago (2005) and completed her Pediatric residency at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland (2008) followed by a fellowship in Adolescent Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine (2011). Before joining UHS, Dr. Gee worked in Adolescent Medicine at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford. She has a special clinical interest in eating disorders and adolescent medicine.
Dr. Gee is board-certified in Adolescent Medicine and Pediatrics.
Dr. Lindsay Huston has served as head team physician for both Yale University and the University of California, Berkeley, two of the largest NCAA Division I athletic programs in the country. Her interest in collegiate sports medicine began when she was a varsity softball player as an undergraduate at Stanford University. After graduating from Stanford, she received her medical degree from the University of California, Davis, and completed her Family Medicine residency through Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles. She finished her training at the San Jose-O'Connor Sports Medicine Fellowship. Following her fellowship, she became Head Team Physician at Yale University. After four years there, she returned to her native Bay Area to join the sports medicine staff at UC Berkeley, and was named Cal Head Team Physician in 2016. In addition to caring for all of Cal's 850 athletes, Dr. Huston sits on the board of the Pac-12 Student-Athlete Health and Well Being Initiative.
Job Titles:
- UHS in 2022 As a Physician
Dr. Logan Danielson joined UHS in 2022 as a Physician in Primary Care, Urgent Care, and Specialty Clinic. He received his Doctorate of Osteopathic Medicine at the Western University of Health Sciences, School of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific. Dr. Danielson attended Family Medicine Residency at the Community Health Care, Tacoma, WA, and
Job Titles:
- UHS in 2020 As a Physician
Dr. Mai Fleming joined UHS in 2020 as a physician in Primary Care. She received her MD from Sydney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University and completed her Family and Community Medicine residency at UCSF. In addition to working at UHS, Dr. Fleming is part-time faculty at the UCSF Family and Community Medicine residency program at SFGH (both in the hospital and primary care clinic). She also practices in the addiction medicine clinic. Dr. Felming helps coordinate reproductive health training for Bay Area family medicine residents and travels to low-resource areas to provide reproductive health care. She also volunteers at a clinic focused on care for sex workers. Dr. Fleming has a special clinical interest in reproductive health care and family planning, addiction medicine, homelessness, and care across the gender spectrum.
Dr. Fleming is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.
Dr. Mathias Masem is an orthopedic surgeon with more than 20 years of experience in surgeries of the hand and upper extremities.
Masem earned his medical degree at the University of Minnesota. He completed general surgery training and a residency in orthopedic surgery at UCSF, then completed a hand surgery fellowship under esteemed hand surgeon Dr. Jack Tupper in Oakland. He spent the following two years as an orthopedic research physician in Switzerland at the University of Bern and the Laboratory for Experimental Surgery. He furthered his training in hand and upper extremity surgery and microsurgery as a clinical and research fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
In addition to his work at UCSF, Masem has a private practice in Oakland and is chief of hand surgery at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center. He also is a consultant on hand and upper extremity injuries for the University of California, Berkeley athletic teams.
Job Titles:
- UHS in 2019 As an Occupational Health Physician
Dr. Michael Goertz joined UHS in 2019 as an Occupational Health Physician. He received his MD and MPH from the University of Minnesota and has a special clinical interest in disability prevention and management. Dr. Goertz has published papers on risk factors for poor outcomes in low back pain and is a member of the ACOEM and ICSI Low Back Pain Guideline Committees.
Dr. Goertz is certified by the American Board of Preventive (Occupational and Environmental) Medicine.
Job Titles:
- UHS in 2021 As a Physician
Dr. Miriam Dunham joined UHS in 2021 as a physician in Primary care. Born and raised in Berkeley, CA, she received her BA in MCB here at Cal and received her MD at Drexel University Medical School in Philadelphia, PA. She completed her residency at Contra Costa Family Medicine at UC Davis. Later, she joined Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, where she started their Family Medicine Clinic. While in Oakland, Dr. Dunham also assisted in opening the Kaiser Student Health Center on the campus of Mills College. Dr. Dunham has a special interest in Lifestyle Medicine, which focuses on a person's day-to-day behaviors such as a healthy diet, exercise, sleep, social connectivity, and stress reduction.
Apart from work, Dr. Dunham enjoys spending time with her husband and their lovely, energetic twin girls. In addition to playing outdoors, they love making art projects, cooking, having dance parties, and sharing in laughter.
Dr. Dunham is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.
Job Titles:
- UHS in 2003 As a Physician
Dr. Odile Leland-Arizmendi joined UHS in 2003 as a physician in Urgent Care. She received her BA from Harvard University and her MD from Columbia University. Prior to joining UHS, Dr. Leland-Arizmendi worked in the Kaiser ER and the Chinese hospital in San Francisco. She was lucky enough to spend some time within the French medical system in Paris during her training.
Dr. Leland-Arizmendi is certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine.
Job Titles:
- Certified Orthopaedic Surgeon
Dr. Sara Edwards is a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon, who specializes in treating shoulder, elbow and knee injuries, non-operative management of shoulder arthritis, and sports-related injuries in all age groups and all levels - from recreational to elite athletes.
Most recently, Dr. Edwards practiced at West Coast Sports Institute (formerly known as SOAR Medical Group) in San Francisco. She has also served as an Assistant Adjunct Professor in Sports Medicine at the UCSF/ San Francisco Veterans Administration Hospital, and she currently serves as a team physician for the City College of San Francisco, the University of San Francisco and the Oakland Ballet. She is the former team orthopaedic surgeon for UC Berkeley, where she took care of football, rugby, women's basketball and gymnastics. Prior to moving to San Francisco she was an Assistant Professor in orthopaedic surgery at Northwestern University and served as the head team orthopaedic surgeon for the Wildcats.
Dr. Edwards' research interests are in patient-derived outcomes after shoulder arthroplasty and labral repair, injury epidemiology and prevention to youth athletes and biomechanical evaluation of various shoulder arthroscopic procedures and proximal humerus fractures.
Dr. Edwards completed her bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Illinois. She continued her medical education training at Northwestern University Medical School, at which she received her M.D. degree. She next completed her orthopaedic surgery residency at Northwestern University Orthopaedic Surgery, during which time she served as a chief resident at both Jesse Brown Westside Veterans Administration Hospital and Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Dr. Edwards followed her residency as the Charles S. Neer Shoulder and Sports Fellow at Columbia University Orthopaedic Surgery in New York City.
Learn more about Dr. Edwards(link is external).
Job Titles:
- Associate Medical Director
Edward Junkins, MD, MPH has a breadth of experience as an academic clinician educator, clinical researcher, and executive administrator for more than two decades. He is presently serving as the Associate Medical Director of University Health Services at UC Berkeley and was most recently the Medical Director of the University of Notre Dame Student Health Services. Dr. Junkins has extensive experience in the academic setting while serving for years as the Senior Associate Dean at the Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine Northwest. Prior to this, Dr. Junkins was the Associate Dean of Student Affairs, as well as the Assistant Dean of Diversity and Community Outreach at the University of Utah School of Medicine. Besides his certification in pediatrics, pediatric emergency medicine, and public health science, Dr. Junkins has teaching interests in best practices of DEIBJ principles, cross-cultural communication, social determinants of health, and epidemiology. Dr. Junkins has served on multiple professional boards, multidisciplinary committees, and task forces, building partnerships and influencing policies promoting wellness. Following his appointment by the Governor, he served as the Vice-Chair of the Joint Task Force on Universal Healthcare in Oregon. Dr. Junkins has been elected to both the Corvallis School Board and to the Corvallis City Council, as well as served on multiple foundations throughout the community. Additionally, Dr. Junkins served as a commissioned officer in the US Public Health Service. He is a former Robert Wood Johnson Minority Medical Development Scholar who received his fellowship training and Master of Public Health from the University of Utah School of Medicine, his internship and residency training at the Johns Hopkins Hospital Children's Center, and his Medical Degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Junkins received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame.
He is originally from Iowa City, Iowa, and presently lives part-time in Oregon with his wife, who is also a physician, and their sons.
Dr. Junkins is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics
Dr. Elizabeth Reed Ringrose is a board certified dermatologist who graduated from Louisiana State University Medical School in New Orleans. She completed her Internship at SF General and her dermatology training at Temple and Stanford. She is a member of the American Academy of Dermatology. Dr. Ringrose has been at UHS since the fall of 1967 and at Alameda Health Center Highland Hospital since 1964. She is mainly interested in medical dermatology in all age groups.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of Information Systems
Jeff Kreutzen, Associate Director of Information Systems
Jeff Kreutzen oversees the UHS IT program and staff.
Lauren Gent joined UHS in 2023 as a Behavioral Health Provider. He received his BA and MA in Cognitive Psychology from SUNY University at Buffalo (2005) and his PsyD from LaSalle University (2014) with a specialty in Clinical Sport and Exercise Psychology. He has a special clinical interest in co-morbid medical/mental health concerns, coping with acute and chronic illness or injury, motivating behavior change, behavioral weight management, and performance anxiety.
Job Titles:
- Clinical Services Director
Melody Heller is a Registered Nurse and served as the Urgent Care Nursing Supervisor as well as the Operations Manager and is now the UHS Clinical Services Director.
Job Titles:
- Director of Counseling and Psychological Services at UHS
- Student Mental Health Co - Director
Peter Cornish is the Director of Counseling and Psychological Services at UHS and an Honorary Research Professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada. His clinical and research interests include online mental health, stepped-care treatments, mental health service innovations, and inter-professional team functioning.
Over the past five years, Dr. Cornish has provided consultation and on-site training on his Stepped Care 2.0 model to over 150 organizations across North America. His nonprofit company, Stepped Care Solutions, is the lead partner on Wellness Together Canada(link is external), a federal COVID-19 $70M mental health program for all peoples of Canada. Dr. Cornish is the principal investigator for a $1.14M four-year research grant aimed at digitizing and evaluating Stepped Care 2.0 across two Canadian provinces. Currently, he is collaborating with colleagues in the US and Canada on a three-book series on Stepped Care 2.0 to be published by Springer, with the first in the series(link is external) available now.
Job Titles:
- Behavioral Health Manager
Raghav Suri joined UHS in 2017 as a Behavioral Health provider. Raghav received his PhD in Clinical Psychology from Wright State University and has a special clinical interest in complex trauma, co-morbid medical/mental health concerns, and childhood abuse/trauma survivors.
Robyn Papathakis Shannon joined UHS in 2019 as a Behavioral Health Provider. She received her BA in Psychology from UC Davis (2009) and her PsyD from the American School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University, Northern Virginia (2016). Robyn has a special clinical interest in anxiety disorders, depression, identity development, insomnia, and the continued development of integrative behavioral healthcare model.
Ron Adler, MD, is a Bay Area native who received his undergraduate degree at Harvard University and medical degree at Stanford. Dr. Adler completed his internship and residency in medicine at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston (Harvard Medical School) and his gastroenterology fellowship at UCSF. He worked on research and served on the clinical faculty at UCSF until 1977 when he came to the East Bay and split his time between private practice in Berkeley and teaching at Highland Hospital. He retired from private practice in 2001 but continues to see patients in the Specialty Clinic at UHS.
Job Titles:
- UHS in 2023 As a Physician
Ryan joined UHS in 2023 as a physician in Urgent Care. He received his BA in Classical Languages from Georgetown University and MD from Cornell University. He completed an internship in Primary Care Internal Medicine at Yale University and a residency in Emergency Medicine at Lincoln Medical Center in the Bronx, NY. He worked in emergency departments in NYC and the Bay Area prior to transitioning to urgent care in 2022. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, swimming in natural bodies of water, and playing music with his family band.
Dr. Romeiser is certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine.
Job Titles:
- PR & Communications Manager
Tami Cate joined the UHS Communications team in 2018. She was previously the Communications Manager at Kaiser Permanente where she worked on a variety of health care communications programs. Tami is passionate about health care and health promotion and believes communications play a big role in helping people access the care and resources to be their best.
Tami received her BA in Communications and Asian Studies from the University of Arizona. She enjoys spending time with her teenage son, hiking with her border collie/spaniel mix in the East Bay hills and beyond, trying new recipes and restaurants, and traveling.
Theresa received her BS degree in Biology from UC Irvine and MD from St. George's University. She completed her residency training at San Joaquin General Hospital, affiliated with UC Davis School of Medicine. Outside of work Theresa enjoys cooking and spending time in nature hiking and/or camping.
Dr. Theresa Vu is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.
Job Titles:
- Director, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, and Justice
- First Director for DEIBJ
Tiffany Melendez joined UHS in 2018 as a Health Educator. In 2023, Tiffany became UHS' First Director for DEIBJ. Tiffany has worked on the Health Promotion team for over five years and has been helping to lead UHS DEIBJ efforts for over two years. Her focus has been on helping students think through how to create healthier learning environments at all levels and teaching spiritual well-being courses that honor the whole experience of being a human and a student at Berkeley.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director of Campus Outreach & Engagement
Tobirus M. Newby is a licensed clinical social worker and the Assistant Director of Campus Outreach & Engagement. Over the past 17 years, Tobirus has worked in the field of violence prevention and intervention by supporting the healing journeys of survivors and by educating and fostering change with those who have caused harm in their relationships and communities. In addition, he is an educator at UC Berkeley Extension and the University of San Francisco and has a private consulting practice through which he provides organizational equity and inclusion services. A quote that guides his life and his practice comes from James Baldwin: "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."
Job Titles:
- Physician in Urgent Care and Also Works at UCSF
Dr. Richards is a physician in Urgent Care and also works at UCSF. He received his BA in Biochemistry from the University of Wyoming, his MS, and MD from the University of Utah, and completed a family medicine residency at the Ventura County Medical Center. Dr. Richards has practiced in a variety of settings including multi-specialty primary care, urgent care, rural family medicine, as a staff physician in Yellowstone National Park, and for most of his career, as an emergency department physician. He has a particular interest in travel medicine, sports medicine, infectious disease, and health IT with a focus on telemedicine and point-of-care application development. Dr. Richards enjoys exploring the Bay Area with his wife, Jennifer, and dog, Oliver. He enjoys reading, and writing, and is learning to sail.
Warren Whitfield joined the UHS SHIP team in 2014 as the Insurance Case Coordinator. Within two years he was promoted to the Supervisor of Billing and Cashiering for Berkeley SHIP. In October 2020, Warren accepted the position of Insurance Office Manager. Prior to working at Tang, Warren spent over 13 years with University Hospitals of Cleveland as a supervisor of claims processing and the billing supervisor for their 7 hospitals. Warren moved back to his birthplace, Oakland, in 2012 where he worked at Laguna Honda Rehab as the billing supervisor and Genentech as a case manager before starting at the University of California, Berkeley. Warren enjoys golf, painting by numbers, and reading. Warren is the father of three grown children and grandfather to three grandchildren with one set of twins. He also loves hanging out with his girlfriend and her niece.
Yanni Rho joined UHS in 2020 as a Psychiatric Support Clinician. She received her BA from the University of Texas at Austin, her MD from the University of Texas Medical Branch, and her MPH from Harvard School of Public Health. She obtained her Adult and Child and Adolescent psychiatry training at Harvard Medical School. She is currently the Medical Director at the John Muir Adolescent Outpatient Program.
As a trainee, Dr. Rho co-edited a book and co-hosted a symposium on acculturation and its impact on Asian mental health. She has an interest in understanding intersectionality factors in health. She is also interested in exploring and implementing more prevention interventions and incorporating more intergrative mind/body health care approaces.
Dr. Rho is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology for both Adult and Child/Adolescent Psychiatry.