OUR TEAM
Leadership & Vision at Sun Valley Research Center
At SVRC, we believe that deep site relationships, operational excellence, and scientific integrity are the foundations of transformative clinical research.
Our team is made of long-time collaborators who share a unified mission: to run smarter, patient-centric clinical trials.
Directors & Management
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Medical Director & Co-founder
Dr. Ng is a Mexicali native who started his private practice in Imperial County in 1994. He became a Medical Doctor at the University of Nuevo Leon in 1987. After completing his year of social service in the city of Monterrey in 1988, he entered specialized training in Psychiatry, in El Paso Texas in 1989 and continued in San Diego California in 1992. Dr. Ng is currently the principal investigator for Sun Valley Research Center, Inc.
He completed a year of subspecialty training in Psychosomatic Medicine right before moving to Imperial County, California. He is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in General Psychiatry and in Psychosomatic Medicine, as well as by the Mexican Board of Psychiatry. He is also a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.
He has served as chairman and member of the Physician Wellbeing and Bioethic committees at both local hospitals ECRMC and PMH. He is a consultant at various organizations and clinics. He is a member of the American Psychiatric Association, the Imperial County Medical Society, the San Diego Psychiatric Society and the American Medical Association.
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Executive Director & Co-founder
Judy Galindo is the current Executive Director and one of the site co-owners who helped establish research center back in 2007.
Judy is a bilingual certified clinical research coordinator (ACRP) who oversees all administrative tasks, community outreach/outreach, site & physician collaborations and works closely with the site manager and PI/co-owner for the day-to-day site operations. Judy has worked on over 130 protocols over the past 20 years, prior to SVRC she worked for a sleep disorders research center in San Diego, California for several years.
She has a master’s degree in advanced studies in Clinical Research and has numerous years of experience in many site-based roles such as research assistant, study coordinator, rater and manager across various therapeutic areas in clinical research.
Judy is also very involved in the clinical research industry and ensuring the industry improves their diversity efforts to include all patients of various backgrounds in clinical trials but also that smaller/rural border communities such as Imperial County are included and considered locations where clinical research should be at in order to offer more opportunities in care options to patients in these communities. She is the co-founder of The Clinical Research Circle, Latinos in Clinical Research, and Save our Sites Conference and works closely with many other advocates and site owners in clinical research.
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Site Manager
Michelle has been a dedicated member of Sun Valley Research Center, Inc. since July 2012 and brings extensive experience across multiple roles in clinical research. She began her career as a bilingual Research Assistant and Phlebotomist, later transitioning into the role of Bilingual Research Coordinator. By 2016, she had contributed to more than 59 clinical research studies across various therapeutic areas.
In May 2024, Michelle was promoted to Site Manager and now oversees the day-to-day operations of the research center. She works closely with the entire research team, Executive Director Judy Galindo, and Principal Investigator Dr. Bernardo Ng to ensure smooth and compliant study execution.
Michelle is trained on all of SVRC, Inc.’s standard operating procedures and holds current certifications in Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and IATA, along with an active phlebotomy license. She has several years of hands-on experience working with various EDC and IVRS systems and is skilled in administering cognitive assessments and participant/caregiver questionnaires.
Michelle attended Imperial Valley College from 2004 to 2006, where she pursued an associate degree in Spanish and Teaching. She is currently completing her Bachelor of Science in Applied Management online through Grand Canyon University, with an expected graduation date in Fall 2025.
Investigators
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Investigator
Dr. Diana Dang completed her internship in internal medicine and a dermatology training program through the American Association of Physician Specialists and has her own private clinic with several other providers in El Centro, CA. She has a special interest in treating acne and acne scars, specializes in Agnes RF microneedling, a non-surgical facial contouring procedure.
She is also an expert on laser procedures including tattoo removal, hair removal, skin rejuvenation and laser treatments for psoriasis and vitiligo. Dr. Dang is an investigator for clinical research studies at Sun Valley Research Center, Inc.
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Sub-Investigator & Rater
Nika is a licensed psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner with over 11 years of experience in nursing specially for psychiatric conditions.
She started out working as a certified nursing assistant and then as a registered nurse for several psychiatric facilities over several years. She went back to school and completed her Master of Science in Nursing in 2023 and became a family nurse practitioner. She completed additional training to get her license as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner in 2024.
During her educational and professional trajectory, Nika realized she had a passion for working with patients with mental health conditions and wanted to devote her time and expertise in treating these patients.
At Sun Valley Research Center, Nika Varrin is a Sub-Investigator and a rater for our clinical research studies.
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Sub-Investigator & Rater
Tyler is a licensed psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner with over 11 years of experience in nursing.
He started out working as a registered nurse in 2014 and has had various roles working for one of the local hospitals or state prisons as well as a nursing tutor. Tyler went back to school and completed his Master of Science in Nursing in 2025 and became a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner.
Tyler has enjoyed working in the nursing field and realized there was a need for bilingual psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners and decided to pursue this in order to work in a private clinic setting.
At Sun Valley Research Center, Tyler Martin is a Sub-Investigator and a rater for our clinical research studies.
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Investigator
Dr. Alidad Zadeh is a licensed Doctor of Osteopathic of medicine and has his own private clinic with several other providers in El Centro, CA focused on primary care with a passion for medicine and education. His office focuses on Chronic Disease Management, Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT), Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), Preventative Medicine, Pain Management, Weight Management, and various other conditions. Dr. Alidad Zadeh is an investigator for clinical research studies at Sun Valley Research Center, Inc.
Website →
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Investigator
Dr. Hamid Zadeh, FACOG is an OBGYN and has his own private clinic with a few other providers in Imperial, CA provides expert full spectrum obstetric and gynecologic healthcare for women of all ages. His office focuses on high-risk pregnancies, pre-conception and infertility counseling and treatment for menopause, as well as excellent surgical training using cutting edge technology including the da Vinci Surgery laser. Dr. Hamid Zadeh is an investigator for clinical research studies at Sun Valley Research Center, Inc.
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Investigator
Dr. Mary Vivirito is a licensed optometrist and works at Optom-Eyes Vision Care Optometry in El Centro, CA. Her office treats dry eyes, myopia management, comprehensive astigmatism diagnosis and correction, presbyopia, hyperopia, cataracts, macular degeneration, glaucoma and treats a variety of other conditions as well as providing eye exams, glasses, and contacts. Dr. Vivirito and her facility have been a contracted facility and investigator for several clinical research studies with our office and will continue to support with our office on ophthalmology clinical research studies.
Business & Coordination
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Business Development Manager
Dr. Rubio was born in Monterrey, Mexico and is a foreign medical degree graduate from Universidad de Monterrey and has about 6 years of clinical research experience in various roles which include a lead clinical research coordinator and director of clinical research working on Asthma, Dermatology, and various other therapeutic areas.
As of 2025, Dr. Rubio has joined our team as the Business Development Manager to help grow and expand our therapeutic areas in clinical research and integrate research into other healthcare providers (HCP) in our community as well as foster and grow our local referral HCP network to identify potential participants for ongoing clinical trials.
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Senior Clinical Research Coordinator
Rossy has been working with SVRC, Inc. since 2007 as a bilingual study coordinator and has worked as the primary or back-up coordinator on over 64 clinical research studies. Rossy graduated in October 2016 from the University of Phoenix with a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Services & Business Administration.
She also has several years of experience working on various EDC/IVRS systems, as well as administering various cognitive/subject/parent/caregiver scales and questionnaires for studies in various therapeutic areas. She has also been trained and certified to be the blinded rater in a few Alzheimer’s studies for specific cognitive rating scales.
Rossy’s experience in all the clinical research studies and assessments she has administered are listed on her current research CV. Rossy is also trained on SVRC, Inc.’s standard operating procedures and has a current GCP training/certification, as well as being IATA certified.
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Coordinador de Investigación Clínica
Javier comenzó en nuestra oficina en diciembre de 2021 y es un asistente de investigación/reclutador bilingüe y es responsable de la preselección e identificación de participantes para nuestros estudios actuales de nuestra base de datos interna, referencias entrantes de anuncios en redes sociales, referencias entrantes de la comunidad y campañas de reclutamiento central. También asistirá con varias otras tareas delegadas según sea necesario para diversos estudios en curso, como asistir con documentos regulatorios y fuentes electrónicas dentro de nuestro CTMS interno o sistemas de fuentes electrónicas específicos del estudio. Realizará evaluaciones de evaluadores como el MMSE en participantes potenciales o en curso.
Javier se graduó a principios de 2021 con una licenciatura en psicología de la Universidad Cetys en Mexicali, BC, México. Javier tiene algo de experiencia durante los últimos años trabajando con pacientes en psicología, hogares grupales o entornos de clínicas de adicciones.
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Clinical Research Coordinator
Dr. Rodriguez was born and raised in Mexicali, Baja California. Dr. Rodriguez received his medical degree from Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, and his master’s degree in occupational health from Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara.
Dr. Rodriguez has vast experience in psychosocial behavior and has been the medical coordinator and medical manager across multiple international companies.
As of 2023, Dr. Rodriguez has joined our team as a Clinical Research Coordinator and looks forward to contributing to our community’s mental health care.
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Lead Research Assistant (CRC In Training)
Pre-Screener/RecruiterEmilia started with our office as of November 2021 and is a bilingual research assistant/recruiter and she is responsible for pre-screening and identifying participants for our current studies from our internal database, incoming referrals from social media ads, incoming referrals from the community, and central recruitment campaigns. She will also be assisting with various other delegated tasks as needed for various ongoing studies.
Emilia is currently attending Imperial Valley College and working on her Associates in Psychology and her estimated graduation date is January 2022. After Imperial Valley College she will be transferring to San Diego State University, Imperial Valley Campus to work on her bachelor’s in psychology.
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Research Assistant
Diana Villalobos was born and raised in Mexicali, Baja California. In February of 2024, Diana joined the Sun Valley Research team as a research intern with the intention of expanding her knowledge in both clinical research and behavioral sciences and as of August 2024 is now our newest research assistant.
Diana aspires to be an orthopedic surgeon in the USA; she is currently preparing for her USMLE boards.
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Research Assistant
Vanessa Nuño is a bilingual Research Assistant at Sun Valley Research Center. Vanessa graduated from CALRegional as a medical assistant in 2022, and since then she developed a passion towards patient care and community outreach.
Ms. Nuño’s background in agriculture has granted her a unique perspective in the medical needs of the Imperial Valley, and an unmatched eagerness to engage with our community, and helping towards improving the participation of minorities in clinical research.
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Research Assistant
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Research Assistant (Pre-Screener/Recruiter)
Alexandrina (Nina) Garcia was born in Los Angeles, California and is currently pursuing a degree in Clinical Psychology at CETYS Universidad. She works as a Research Assistant at Sun Valley Research Center, where she focuses on patient recruitment and prescreening for a variety of clinical trials.
Alexandrina previously studied medicine at UABC Medical School and has participated in research programs through UCSD’s ENLACE program. She is passionate about mental health and aims to use her clinical and research experience to support underserved communities and advance innovative treatments in behavioral health.
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