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Executive Leadership

Meet Our Team Who Believe in Helping You Grow

John Peloquin PH.D

John Peloquin, Ph.D., MBA 

President & Chief Executive Officer

John is the president and chief executive officer of Discovery Behavioral Health, a company that operates in 12 states and has more than 100 facilities that serve those struggling with substance use, mental health and eating disorders. He is passionate about bringing access to quality care for those who need it most and has been at the forefront of building and leading behavioral healthcare organizations for more than 20 years.

During the late 1990s, as chief administrative officer and director of operations for Vital Imaging, John developed and executed organizational growth initiatives, including strategic partnerships and alliances, to expand preventive medical treatment throughout the western United States.

In 2004, John became division president of CRC Health Group, one of the nation’s largest behavioral healthcare providers. He was responsible for multiple service lines integrally involved with the growth of company facilities which included a portfolio of premium and low-cost residential facilities treating substance use, mental health and eating disorders, as well as providing an array of ancillary services. A Bain Capital-sponsored company, CRC was sold to Acadia Healthcare in 2005 for $1.3B. At the time, this deal constituted the largest organizational sale in the history of the behavioral healthcare field. 

At Acadia Healthcare, John was named division president, heading up Acadia’s national outpatient division and charged with servicing more than 58,000 patients per day across 27 states. In this capacity, he helped the division to nearly double in size through acquisition, de novo and organic growth methods. As a result, the organization became the national market leader in medication-assisted treatment (MAT). 

After great success improving clinical and organizational systems at Acadia Healthcare, John became chief executive officer of Cliffside Malibu, a network of evidence-based addiction treatment centers located in Malibu, California. In 2018, he facilitated the merger of Cliffside Malibu with Center of Discovery, resulting in the formation of Discovery Behavioral Health. 

John earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree with an emphasis in finance from and a Ph.D. in applied management and decision sciences. He is married with three children and resides in San Diego.

Matthew Ruble, MD

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Ruble is the Chief Medical Officer of Discovery Behavioral Health. Dr. Ruble has a deep passion for advancing the behavioral health industry through training, publication, innovation, payer relations and collaboration. He spent 20 years of his career working with the Cambridge Health Alliance, a health system affiliated with Harvard Medical School, responsible for training clinicians, residents and medical staff in core evidence-based practices including:

  • Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
  • Psychiatric curriculum development
  • Research
  • Publications
  • Speaking nationally on evidence-based practices
  • integrated behavioural and physical health care delivery
Matthew Ruble MD

As Lead Medical Director overseeing Clinical Behavioral Health Strategy and Operations for Humana, he was part of the team that reviewed and advised on all behavioral health technology innovations for investment and implementation. His expertise spans consistent delivery of innovative and value-based, industry-leading, and integrated behavioral health programs and services. 

Dr. Ruble earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. From there, he attended the Carver School of Medicine at the University of Iowa, earning his Doctor of Medicine degree. He then attended Harvard Medical School in Boston to intern at the Department of Medicine and became a resident at the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Ruble became Chief Resident of the Psychopharmacology at Cambridge Health Alliance as well as a physician educator at the Academy at Harvard Medical School.

Edye Bauer, Esq

Mark Nelson, MBA

Chief Financial Officer


Mark Nelson brings nearly 30 years of financial leadership in industries including technology, healthcare and consumer products. He has broad financial management experience but has carved out a niche in leading the financial activities for high growth companies. Mark has developed and directed financial strategies, including working closely with boards, equity shareholders, lenders and transaction process management that drives solid enterprise value through process and business improvements. As a partner with management, he works closely with operations, including IT, building and improving finance and accounting teams, systems and processes for efficiency, accuracy and information.

Prior to joining Discovery, Mark held several CFO and other senior finance roles. Most relevant to Discovery, as CFO, Mark led a multi-site healthcare company through rounds of equity and debt financing as it grew 10x+ in value over 4 years, and as he prepared the company for potential future IPO. Prior to that, Mark spent nearly 10 years at VIZIO, a then $2b-$3b revenue company, holding many positions including SVP Finance and Corporate Controller. There, Mark led the company through years of explosive growth, debt financings, and acquisitions, while also working with customer, vendor, logistics, and efficiency matters. Mark prepared relevant departments for the company’s IPO and helped lead the process culminating into its IPO filing. Prior to VIZIO, Mark was VP Finance at a high growth, private equity backed multi site healthcare company where he focused primarily on acquisitions as he worked to help roll up a fragmented behavioral health landscape. Before these roles, Mark was an investment banker at Credit Suisse First Boston focusing on M&A, and prior to that, he was an auditor with Deloitte.

Mark is a CPA and earned his MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a BA in Business Economics from The University of California, Santa Barbara. He resides in Orange County, California, with his fiancée and young son. Mark loves cooking, snowboarding, golf, and saltwater fishing.


Edye Bauer, Esq

Edye Bauer, Esq. 

General Counsel


Edye joined Discovery in 2018 as general counsel, where she enjoys developing innovative solutions, solving problems and making a difference in people’s lives. Providing creative legal and strategic leadership at Discovery, Edye’s role includes, but is not limited to, advising on complex matters, corporate acquisitions, regulatory issues, risk management, insurance issues, compliance, licensing and employee issues.

Bringing over 20 years of legal experience to Discovery, Edye has significant partner-level experience at top law firms and in-house counsel experience at privately-held companies. Prior to joining the leadership team at Discovery, Edye was general counsel for a privately held behavioral health company, focused on treating substance use disorders and a broad range of mental health conditions.

Edye is a graduate of Stanford Law School and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Southern California with bachelor degrees in international relations and East Asian area studies. 

A member of the Hispanic National Bar Association, Edye is proud of her Hispanic heritage. She believes in leveraging equity and inclusion practices that attract and develop a diverse workforce and amplify the voices of the underserved and underrepresented. After serving for several years as a board member of Women of Color in Law, Inc., a San Diego-based organization focused on helping people of color, especially women, succeed in the legal field, Edye recently moved to an advisory role. 

Edye aspires to be the calm in the storm, solving challenges for the company so that staff and clinicians can focus on providing the best quality care to patients. In her spare time, Edye enjoys spending time with her family and her pets.

Sandra Sellani, MBA 

Senior Vice President of Marketing & Public Relations

Sandra and her team oversee all elements of marketing, sales, and communications, including traditional and digital advertising, social media, public relations, collateral development, and alumni services. Prior to joining Discovery Behavioral Health, she served as Vice President of Marketing for Newport Beach, California-based NVISION Eye Centers, and Vice President of Marketing for Irvine, California-based Sperry Van Ness Commercial Real Estate. She was a Regional Marketing Director for six years for Atlanta-based Charter Medical Corporation, at the time the world’s largest behavioral health organization. She has also served as Marketing Director for United Western Medical Centers Behavioral Health and CosmetiCare Plastic Surgery Specialists.

Sandra Sellani, MBA

Sandra is the author of the award-winning book, What’s Your BQ? (Brand Quotient®), and has spoken throughout the country to CEO’s, executives and sales teams about building powerful, inimitable brands. Sandra has an executive MBA from Pepperdine University, Malibu, California, and resides in Newport Beach, California.

Celeste N. Jupinko, PH.D

Celeste N. Jupinko, Ph.D. 

Senior Vice President of Clinical Services & Quality Management

With more than 25 years of experience working within the behavioral healthcare field, Dr. Jupinko has lent her talents in both clinical and operations roles for private and non-profit companies.

Before joining Discovery Behavioral Health, Dr. Jupinko was vice president of clinical services for Acadia Healthcare’s national outpatient division and previously held the same role for CRC Health Group.

She is most noted for her success in elevating clinical quality, maintaining regulatory compliance, overseeing policy management and sustaining performance improvement efforts.

Dr. Jupinko has also worked as a behavioral healthcare consultant, was owner of a private clinical practice and led a behavioral health hospital as CEO. 

Dr. Jupinko earned her doctorate degree from the University of Arizona and her master’s degree from Duquesne University. When she is not developing guidelines that ensure an optimal patient experience, she can be found spending quality time with family, reading the latest national bestseller, working out and doting on her beloved dogs.

Corey Procuniar, SHRM-CP 

Senior Vice President of Human Resources

Corey oversees all human resource functions for Discovery Behavioral Health, which has nearly 3,000 employees across 12 states. Prior to joining DBH, Corey was head of human resources for Cambridge Healthcare Services in Orange County, California, where he worked for 10 years. He holds a B.A. degree in pre-med, chemistry, from Brigham Young University. 

With DBH’s ongoing expansion plans, including the addition of several hundred employees, Corey will utilize the latest in human capital management systems (HCMS), a comprehensive and strategic approach to building and developing effective staffing in organizations.

Corey Procuniar

With DBH’s ongoing expansion plans, including the addition of several hundred employees, Corey will utilize the latest in human capital management systems (HCMS), a comprehensive and strategic approach to building and developing effective staffing in organizations. The HCMS, coupled with Corey’s vast experience as a human resource expert in the healthcare space, will help drive other key HR initiatives, including: improved employee satisfaction, engagement and retention; continuous improvements in effective staff communication; development of best-in-class hiring, onboarding and training practices for qualified candidates; and establishment of an employee benefits program. 

When Corey is not exploring the most optimal ways to improve the staff experience at DBH, you can find him enjoying hobbies such as photography and videography. He loves travel photography and was able to capture amazing images on recent excursions to Iceland and Ecuador. Though, his most inspiring photo subject is his family, which includes six children (five boys and one girl) and grandchildren.

Shalaura Soliai, MBA

Shalaura Soliai, MBA 

Vice President of Diversity Equity & Inclusion

Shalaura is a Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DEI) leader with more than 15 years’ experience implementing employee relations-based business solutions in multi-state, start-up, legacy healthcare, and hospitality organizations. She uses a conducive and collaborative approach to sustaining engagement to provide optimal employee encounters. Her philosophy is to support and mitigate risk for companies while ensuring the voice of the employee is highly regarded. She believes that diversity in a company’s leadership is tantamount to a diverse workforce and customer-base. Prior to joining Discovery Behavioral Health, Shalaura spearheaded diversity efforts for a privately held behavioral health company, contributing to the increased hiring of BIPOC women by 15%. 

Most notably, Shalaura successfully developed seven inclusive employee resource groups at Care1st Health Plan to include LGBTQIA+, veterans, women, Asian & Pacific Islander, African American and LatinX, resulting in a 35% increase in diverse hiring, promotion, and mentorship. At St. Francis Medical Center, she established a pipeline of BIPOC physicians through partnership enhancements with the only dually designated historically black graduate institution and hispanic-serving health school, Charles Drew University, to address health inequities and to develop a medical staff that looks like the communities served. She also co-founded the Patient and Employee Diversity Committee which achieved St Joseph Heritage HealthCare’s value imperative to transform organizational culture and provide patient-focused cultural sensitivity training to more than 6,000 employees. Other areas of expertise include executing diversity and equity strategies through meaningful engagement with historically marginalized communities, leading complex initiatives and managing difficult conversations.

Outside of her many important responsibilities at Discovery, Shalaura sits on an inclusion plan panel for NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). As an IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility) practitioner for NASA, she will enlist her expertise on DEI matters at one of the most respected and innovative organizations in government. Alongside scientists and other DEI industry leaders on the IDEA panel, Shalaura will review and evaluate scientific proposals through the lens of IDEA, specifically for their Astrophysics initiatives. 

Shalaura holds both a Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Organizational Development from the University of La Verne. In her spare time, Shalaura enjoys attending live music and comedy shows, spinning classes, and spending time with her family.

Deandra Christianson, MA 

President, Eating Disorder Division

Deandra Christianson received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and her master’s degree in clinical psychology at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology including a specialization in counseling specialization with a focus on the treatment of children and adolescents.  


In addition to serving as COO of Alsana, a regional eating recovery treatment provider, she has also held both clinical and administrative positions at Center for Discovery from 2013 to 2021. She has been afforded many opportunities to speak at conferences and other engagements throughout the country. Deandra has worked with individuals with eating disorders, self-injurious behaviors, mood disorders, and other co-occurring issues in both residential and outpatient treatment settings. Additionally, she has worked with schools in program development and implementation that focuses on student leadership and bullying prevention and intervention. Deandra is passionate about eating disorder awareness, advocacy, and treatment. 

Corey Procuniar
Chris Diamond

Patrick Moallemian, MA, MBA

President, Mental Health Division

Chris brings his experience to the Discovery team to help with the company’s growth through new services and expansion in response to the unprecedented need for Behavioral Health services nationwide. As part of the strategic development, he will oversee a Discovery Behavioral Health division focused on psychiatric and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) services. TMS is a non-invasive, painless method of brain stimulation used successfully with patients experiencing treatment-resistant depression. Chris will help expand DBH’s psychiatric and TMS footprint while growing the organization’s telehealth services, which made a significant impact during the COVID-19 pandemic


Rachel Everett, MBA, AMA-CPM 

President, Substance Use Division

With 20 years of leadership experience, Rachel is an experienced behavioral healthcare executive. She began her career at Discovery Behavioral Health as a VP, Operations & Military Services, quickly rising to the position of Senior VP of Operations for Discovery’s mental health division. Currently serving as Substance Use Division President, Rachel also maintains oversight of the company’s growing military services brand. She prides herself on her ability to balance quality patient care with strategic priorities, is versed in change management, organizational leadership and improving clinical and financial operational indicators. Rachel’s vision for the SUD Division is to continue to provide evidenced based quality clinical care, stellar customer service, facilitate the removal of access barriers, engage in continual process improvement and to remain fiscally responsible to our shareholders.
Corey Procuniar

Rachel’s extensive background includes serving as CEO for Starlite Recovery Center (Acadia Healthcare) in Centerpoint, Texas and CEO for Oak Hills Hospital and Madison Oaks Academy in Jackson, Tennessee. She also has served as the Administrator for a competency restoration program in WA and Executive Director to a large adolescent PRTF in MO. In addition, to these roles, she spent eight years in the US Army Reserve, achieving the rank of Sergeant as a Quarry Specialist while based in Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri and is the spouse of a retired active-duty service member. Throughout these roles, Rachel has led 5 bed expansions, 3 turnarounds and 4 denovos while consistently increasing patient experience, and clinical/financial KPI’s.Rachel holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology & criminal justice from Drury University in Springfield, Missouri, as well as an MBA from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Rachel enjoys being creative, reading, riding motorcycles, traveling and spending time with her husband, and 7 children (5 humans and 2 pups).


Chris Diamond

Monika Valentine 

President, Psychiatric and Professional Services

Monika is a results-oriented senior executive with a proven track record of providing operations solutions for a number of corporations. She has successfully helped turn around and leveraged her experience to promote efficiency across business and healthcare operations. Monika is highly effective at conceptualizing and implementing processes and improvements to programs from the ground up to position firms for market growth. Before becoming President of the Psychiatric & Professional Services division, Monika served as president of Discovery Medical Services, a division that she continues to oversee in her expanded role.

Prior to joining Discovery, Monika was director of regional and workers’ compensation consulting at The Redwoods Group/A Crum Forster Company in North Carolina; executive director/CEO of OccMed Colorado; executive director/CEO at OCCOLV, LLC, in Colorado; and director of occupational medicine and specialty practices at HealthOne Clinic Services, LLC, also in Colorado.

Monika has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and an MBA and post-graduate certification in HR at Villanova. She has certifications in Strategic Leadership, Strategy & Operations and Strategic Innovation from Vanderbilt University. She also has certifications in Executive Leadership and Performance Leadership from Cornell University.  Monika is currently pursing a PhD in human capital.

When she isn’t working, Monika and her husband Jeff have a private nonprofit, The Valentine Foundation, Inc. Their philanthropy work supports various organizations like Mile High-RETAC, which provide placement of AEDs in underserved communities and making CPR training available in places where resources are limited.


Chris Diamond 

Senior Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions

Chris brings his experience to the Discovery team to help with the company’s growth through new services and expansion in response to the unprecedented need for Behavioral Health services nationwide. As part of the strategic development, he will oversee a Discovery Behavioral Health division focused on psychiatric and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) services. TMS is a non-invasive, painless method of brain stimulation used successfully with patients experiencing treatment-resistant depression. Chris will help expand DBH’s psychiatric and TMS footprint while growing the organization’s telehealth services, which made a significant impact during the COVID-19 pandemic
Corey Procuniar


A veteran of the behavioral healthcare industry, Chris brings nearly 30 years of expertise to this role, including direct care, clinical care and facility leadership. Since 2007, he has served as CEO and COO at facilities in Arizona, California, Texas and Kentucky. His work includes 13 years with Universal Health Services and six years with PSI/Acadia. He also helped grow Meadows Behavioral Healthcare through facility leadership, division strategy and acquisition between 2013 and 2020, holding positions as CEO of Remuda Ranch, President and CEO of Sunspire Health and Chief Development Officer. Chris received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and completed graduate school coursework in education psychology from Temple University in Philadelphia.

Chris Diamond

Randy C. Davis, Ph.D. 

Senior Advisor to the CEO

Dr. Davis is presently the President of RCD Consulting, a behavioral health solutions consulting practice. Engagements have included national behavioral health organizations , national companies specializing in treatment of eating disorders, substance abuse, and general mental health disorders, as well as various private equity companies and search funds.

Prior to retirement in early 2015, Dr Davis was President of Beacon Health Strategies, Western Region (BCBHM), a managed behavioral health care organization, which is part of the Beacon family of companies, including Beacon Health Strategies, Psychcare, Autism Services Group, and Beacon UK.

Dr. Davis also served as Founder/Chief Executive Officer of College Health IPA, a behavioral health Independent Practice Association of more than 3,500 clinicians and Comprehensive Behavioral Health Management, a Regional Managed Behavioral Health Organization. In 1990, Dr. Davis founded BCHBM’s predecessor company, Comprehensive Behavioral Health Management, and College Health IPA in 1990, where he developed an innovative regional managed behavioral health company that contracted with national health insurers to execute a local strategy in California for delivering and managing mental health and substance use services on behalf of 3 million members. In 2010 Dr. Davis sold CBHM to Beacon Health Strategies and remained part of their senior leadership team in the role of president of Beacon’s Western Region. 

Dr. Davis was responsible for the development and management of Beacon’s western region business as well as part of Beacon’s Corporate Leadership Team. A licensed psychologist, Dr. Davis was the president of a single specialty, multi-disciplinary behavioral health group from 1977 until 1997. He also consulted on the development and maintenance of a behavioral health delivery system serving a Medicaid population in Puerto Rico. Dr. Davis has had extensive experience in public speaking on mental health issues, including hosting a Los Angeles-based radio program for many years. Currently, Dr. Davis is a trustee for the Institute for Shipboard Education which operates the Semester at Sea as well as a board member of the Argyros School of Business at Chapman University, and a board member at the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation.

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