Melissa J. Gallardo, ARNP

Dr. Leep-Lazar grew up in Bethesda, Maryland and then headed out towards Allentown, Pennsylvania for her undergraduate degree in Biology at Muhlenberg College. There she became passionate about public health and studied abroad in Gaborone, Botswana to learn more about the healthcare system. She also did research on local tickborne infectious diseases and their impacts on the community. After graduating she spent a year working at John’s Hopkins School of Medicine on HIV and Hepatitis C research. She went to medical school at Temple University’s medical school campus at St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem, PA. Throughout her medical school career she grew to love working directly with patients, especially in women’s and reproductive health and obstetrics.

Dr. Loret was adopted from China at the age of two and grew-up in Idaho Falls, Idaho. She attended the University of Utah where she studied biology, psychology, and ethnic studies. She was involved in many community service, research, and mentoring experiences throughout college. Her passions within medicine include lifestyle and preventative medicine, mental health advocacy, and palliative care. She is excited to be a Family Medicine doctor and is grateful for the opportunity to make strong, lasting connections with her patients.

Originally from BC, Canada, Raphael studied at the University of British Columbia (Okanagan) and was involved in various provincial and national advocacy projects pertaining to access to safe and clean drinking water. His passion for service led him to become a veteran search and rescue volunteer and medical responder of one of BC’s busiest search and rescue organizations. He has also worked with emergency social support services, incident command systems, as well as with foreign humanitarian projects. Raphael graduated from the Ben Gurion University Medical School for International Health and is passionate about full-scope family medicine, global health, medical innovation, and serving diverse or underserved communities.