About Us
MedChefs was founded to help people improve their health by changing the way they eat. We do this by empowering doctors and health systems to optimize the lives of their patients using our online dietary health tool that guides the patient’s journey, tracks their success, and reports results to their doctor.
We know:
- A healthy dietary pattern and the enjoyment of food is not mutually exclusive.
- Chronic disease management and prevention strategies are more effective with an empowered partnership between doctor and patient.
- Behavioral change is sustainable when there is ongoing support — anchored by accountability touchpoints with their doctor.
Collectively, the MedChefs, Inc. team brings the wisdom of over 200 yrs. of experience in skills ranging from biochemistry, interventional cardiology, lipidology, behavioral change, business development, IT, and culinary arts. This diverse talent has coalesced around the passion for the Inspiring Healthcare vision, “Bridging Doctors and Patients to Optimize Health and Wellness.”
The company is privately held and based in Oakland, California.
Management
Thomas Gregory Quinn, MD, Chief Executive Officer, Director and Founder
Dr. Quinn received his undergraduate degree in biochemistry and his medical degree, both, from the University of California, Davis. His cardiovascular specialty training was conducted at Stanford University.
Currently, Dr. Quinn is an interventional cardiologist with a large multi-specialty group in the San Francisco Bay Area. He served on the board of his medical group for nine years and during this time the group grew from 40 providers to over 300 providers. He currently serves as the chair of the Well-Being Committee tasked with the mission of decreasing clinician burnout and infusing a sense of Joy of Work for over 400 clinicians. For over two decades he has provided comprehensive cardiovascular care to thousands of patients in a large and diverse metropolitan community. Dr. Quinn’s commitment to health was recently recognized by, then Governor Jerry Brown who appointed him to the Naturopathic Medicine Committee serving the State of California.
By bridging science and technology with the goal of making a healthy lifestyle easily achievable for all, Dr. Quinn created the MedChefs vision and has assembled an expert team of cofounders. He currently serves as the CEO. Furthermore, he has taken to heart the messages he passionately conveys to his patients. He has a Chopra Center certification in meditation and he is a Rolf Gates certified Vinyasa Yoga Instructor. Additionally, he is a martial arts instructor and has participated in numerous triathlon competitions. In his 50s he successfully completed his first ironman event.
Randi Gallenson, Managing Director and Nutrition Strategist
Randi oversees strategic alignment and facilitates business opportunities for MedChefs. She acts as liaison between the Culinary and Nutrition teams, designing strategies and experiences that support our members to optimize their health.
Leveraging her background in wellness and business coaching, Randi’s ability to clarify vision and build strategies for action has contributed to the growth of many individuals and organizations. She is energized by helping people realize the impact they wish to make in the world. As an innovator, connector and entrepreneur, Randi is inspired to be a part of MedChefs team.
Prior to MedChefs, Randi was a Shirlaws Business Coach from 2009–2018. Randi focused on vision, leadership development, team building, and culture. She is also a board member/partner of a real estate company specializing in community-building and value creation through urban in-fill development, property management, and investment fund opportunities.
Randi’s undergraduate degrees are in Expressive Arts and Psychology from Sonoma State University. This educational foundation has been further shaped by a certification in Precision Nutrition Coaching, applied trainings in Three Principles coaching and Personal Energetics Management.
She is passionate about youth, education, and the arts, Randi served 8 years as a board member of Oakland School for the Arts, a California Charter school.
Allan Sapp, Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Sapp is a corporate finance consultant and private investor with over 40 years experience in finance and development. He began his career in the San Francisco Bay Area with a privately held group of companies involved in retailing, manufacturing, real estate, and investment securities. Over eleven years, Mr. Sapp worked to acquire, build, and manage investments for the family office including paper mills, shopping centers, and publicly traded stocks. He was Chief Financial Officer of the group’s two paper mills in New England and still retains an ownership interest in the mills to this day.
Since 1990, Mr. Sapp has been self-employed with his own private investments in real estate, securities, and natural resources. He has developed numerous vacation home properties and is publicly regarded as the most financially successful real estate developer in the history of Kirkwood Ski Resort. Mr. Sapp also provides corporate finance consulting services to a small group of clients and partners, primarily in the action sports, natural resources, and real estate industries.
Mr. Sapp earned his undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Puget Sound and his M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Graduate School of Business. He served on the Board of Trustees of the University of Puget Sound from 1990 to 2015.
Advisory
Stephen Raskin, MD, FACC, Medical Director
Steve Raskin is a practicing clinical cardiologist and is currently the Director of the Sutter East Bay Medical Foundation Lipid Clinic in Oakland, California.
He has practiced cardiology for nearly 40 years and in addition has served as a mentor at the UC Berkeley, UCSF Combined Medical School Program and a Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCSF.
He has participated in many important clinical trials and served as principal investigator of many pivotal cardiology trials including the Beta Blocker Heart Attack Trial, Cardiac Arrhythmia Suppression Trial (CAST), and many of the first acute myocardial infarction thrombolytic trials (GUSTO program).
He obtained his medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin followed by internship and medical residency at the Boston City Hospital. Cardiology fellowship was completed at Mt. Zion-University of California, San Francisco.
Dr. Raskin is a member of AOA and is board certified in cardiology, clinical lipidology, and cardiovascular computed tomography. He is an avid photographer and ocean sailor completing two transpacific crossings and was cardiology consultant to the Swedish America’s Cup ARTEMIS Sailing Team.
He is the Chief Medical Officer of MedChefs, a company dedicated to improving health by providing a novel e-solution to foster a healthy lifestyle and nutrition pattern.
Technology
Venky Vaddineni, Chief Technical Officer
Venky is a Healthcare IT professional specializing in architecting techno-functional solutions, with over 20 years of experience in the industry. Venky Vaddineni is a founder and Managing Director of Sphata Systems. Prior to founding Sphata, Venky served as Vice-President of Engineering at Quantros Inc. (served 2000+ Hospital systems in USA), California, USA for over 12 years. During his meritorious tenure, Venky architected several Healthcare products in quality, safety, compliance, and data aggregating and integration. Venky had contributed to the development of products in the cloud-based environment, which were widely used by more than 2,000 hospitals and IDNs (Integrated Delivery Network) across the USA.
As a Healthcare IT evangelist/pioneer, Venky has been instrumental in launching the offshore operations of Sphata Systems and has been a visionary in conceptualizing the product “Aayuwiz”, a healthcare patient centric platform (connecting across in-patient, out-patients, lab, and pharmacy), for Sphata. Venky has great passion for the Healthcare IT domain and revels in architecting solutions for businesses. He is on a mission to help enterprises meet the current demanding government regulations and to improve patients’ access to care. Venky dedicates most of his time on Engineering, IT and Systems Integration strategies, development processes, onsite consulting advice, and high quality engineering deliverables to the clients.
Venky holds an MS degree in Software Engineering (Security & Encryption) from University Of Wollongong, Australia and a Bachelors degree in Computer Science & Engineering from University Of Madras, India.
Susan Brand, UX Designer
Susan Brand is an art director, graphic designer, photographer, and artist. She brings over 30 years of experience helping clients communicate their authentic stories through design, branding, identity development, and advertising.
For Susan, MedChefs offered the opportunity to help design an app and website that is intuitive, informative, and easy-to-use. What started out as a challenging design and user experience project turned into a life changing experience. She is proud to call herself a MedChefian — that by changing the way we eat, we can live into health.
Susan currently works as a graphic designer at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Previously she was principal and owner of Brand Design, a full-service graphic design firm. Prior to starting Brand Design, Susan was a senior art director at Wells Fargo. She has also been an instructor at University of California Extension Graphic Design Program. Susan is a great supporter of the arts in our community and served for six years on the board of directors of the Richmond Art Center. She has a MA in Art specializing in printmaking from San Francisco State University.
Culinary and Nutrition
David Potash, Chef
Chef Dave Potash brings over 30 years of culinary experience to the team at MedChefs. His love and respect for many cuisines, their histories, and ingredients stems from his varied restaurant, private chef, chef instructor, and global travel experiences.
Dave Potash is an outdoor enthusiast. He enjoys hiking, mountaineering, backcountry backpacking, and any sport or leisure having to do with the ocean. Through his own personal efforts and that of his business, Southpaw Kitchen, he is actively involved in providing veterans nourishing food options at VA facilities and is constantly trying to influence the VA system to offer nutritious, healthy food options to its patients and members. Having grown up in New England and then living in the Bay Area for the past 18 years, Dave enjoys seizing the ingredients of the season and preparing them in simple, intriguing, and healthy ways.
Chef Dave is driven to live his best, most healthy, life through the food he creates for himself, his clients and community, and teachings. MedChefs is the vehicle that allows Chef Dave to help others make positive, life changing choices in their everyday lives through nutritious foods, recipes, and meal plans.
Daphna K. Dror, PhD, RD, Chief Nutrition Officer
Daphna Dror is a registered dietitian with a doctorate in nutrition. Aside from her experience practicing clinical dietetics, Dr. Dror has specialized in international and community nutrition, conducting field research in both developing and developed countries. Dr. Dror has been involved with background research and design for diverse nutrition and public health projects supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, HarvestPlus, and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition.
Dr. Dror is intrigued by the double burden of malnutrition, in which nutrient deficiencies exist simultaneously with overweight and obesity. She is passionate about tackling this paradox through mindful nutrition modification and lifestyle change. In her spare time, Dr. Dror enjoys being in nature and experimenting in the kitchen with healthy and flavorful cuisines from around the world.
Praveena Kumar, MA, RD, Dietitian
Praveena Kumar MA, RD is a Registered Dietitian, Ayurvedic Wellness Practitioner, and a certified yoga therapist. She believes in mind-body medicine and that the combination of nourishing foods, mindfulness-based practices, and movement are the root of true health and wellness. She seamlessly combines all of these healing modalities and her clinical experience, creating a unique and effective experience for her clients on their path to wellness.
Praveena received her Master’s degree from San Francisco State University. She has 13+ years of experience working as a clinical dietitian in an acute care hospital as well as 6 years of private practice which provides her with an extensive understanding of nutrition across all ages and disease conditions.
Wellness
Rolf Gates, Yoga Teacher and Author
Rolf Gates, author of the acclaimed book on yogic philosophy Meditations from the Mat: Daily Reflections on the Path of Yoga, is one of the leading voices of modern yoga. Rolf conducts Vinyasa Intensives and 200/500 Teacher Trainings throughout the US and abroad. A former social worker and US Airborne Ranger who has practiced meditation for the last twenty years, Rolf brings his eclectic background to his practice and his teachings. Born in Manhattan, Rolf Gates grew up in the Boston area as an avid marathon runner, long distance cyclist and champion wrestler. As the descendant of six generations of ministers, he gained an understanding of service and dedication at a very early age.
Rolf Gates is the co-founder of the Yoga + Recovery Conference, Esalen Institute, Big Sur CA and brought yoga and functional stretching to the US Department of Defenses’ Tri-County Summit on Sustainability. He is pleased to be working with the US Military on sustainable care for the troops and their families. Rolf also works weekly one on one with clients in his Yoga Life Coaching program.
Rolf now lives in Santa Cruz with his wife, Empowered Kids Yoga Teacher and Director, Mariam Gates, and two children, Jasmine and Dylan. He has become an avid surfer and puts his yoga to work on his board and as a husband and father.
Michelle Dwyer, Health Coach and Nutritionist
Michelle Dwyer is a holistic health coach and certified nutrition consultant. She is thrilled to be part of the MedChefs team as a health coach supporting members of the community effectively use the program to achieve success in their health and wellness goals.
Michelle has a Master of Science degree in Health and Nutrition Education and has spent over seventeen years in the field of education and another eight years in nutrition and health coaching. She is a professional member of the National Association of Nutrition Professionals and is Board Certified in Holistic Nutrition.
Michelle is passionate about plant-based eating, mindfulness, joyful movement, and a holistic approach to health and well-being. She is also the creator of Whole Life Nourishment for Changemakers, an online program designed for progressive leaders and visionaries to support their well-being so that they can show up vibrantly for themselves, their mission, their community/team, their relationships, and our planet.
She lives in Oakland, California where she works with clients, leads wellness groups, and loves hiking in the redwoods.