Meet our Program Leadership

Peter Ureste, MD, MACM

Program Director

Peter Ureste, MD, MACM, is the program director of the UC Riverside Psychiatry Residency Training Program. A proud native of Riverside and Inland Southern California, Ureste is a first-generation college graduate who began his academic journey at a community college before transferring to Portland State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Community Health. He received his medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine, completed his residency in general adult psychiatry at the University of Southern California, and pursued fellowship training in geriatric psychiatry at UC San Francisco, where he remained on faculty. In 2024, Ureste returned to his hometown to join the faculty at UC Riverside and now leads the psychiatry residency program. He is deeply committed to mentoring residents and medical students and supporting each trainee’s unique professional development. His academic interests include professional identity formation, trauma-informed medical education, public psychiatry, and advancing the careers of trainees from historically excluded backgrounds. Outside of work, Ureste enjoys spending time outdoors with his husband and their dog.

Rich Lee, MD

Associate Program Director

Richard J. Lee, MD, is an associate program director and an associate clinical professor of psychiatry in UC Riverside’s School of Medicine. He also serves as program director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship for the UCR Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience. Clinically, Lee is the associate medical director for Countywide Children’s Programs for the Riverside University Health System-Behavioral Health. He also serves as a staff child and adolescent psychiatrist in the Children’s Treatment Services Clinic in Riverside and is a member of the Department of Behavioral Health’s Asian American Task Force. His professional interests include developmental psychopathology, autism, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and cross-cultural psychiatry. 

Erin Fletcher, MD, MPH

Associate Program Director

Erin Fletcher, MD, MPH, is the associate program director for the UC Riverside Adult Psychiatry Residency Program, where she focuses on resident education and program administration. She supports the program director in organizing and supervising the training program and serves as the associate site director of medical education at the Long Beach VA. Dr. Fletcher graduated from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and holds a master’s degree in public health administration and business from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. She completed her psychiatry residency at UC Riverside, providing patient care in various settings. Additionally, she has co-chaired the UC Riverside Diversity Advisory Committee and served as chief resident. Her interests include women’s mental health, integrative psychiatry, and mentorship.

Claudia Perez, MD

Chief Resident of PGY1s

Claudia Perez, MD, is a fourth-year psychiatry resident and chief resident for the intern class of 2025-2026. Born and raised in Southern California to immigrant parents, she is deeply committed to serving diverse communities and advocating for equitable mental health care. Claudia completed her undergraduate studies at UC Irvine and earned her medical degree from Keck School of Medicine of USC. Prior to medical school, she worked as a medical assistant and EMT. Her professional interests include emergency, inpatient adult, and forensic psychiatry. In her spare time, Claudia enjoys spending time with her family and three dogs. Her other interests include cars, reptiles, and boba.

Rony Saleeb

Chief Resident of PGY2s

Rony Saleeb, MD, is the psychiatry chief resident of PGY2s  at the UC Riverside Psychiatry Residency Training Program. He grew up in Arcadia, California before heading to Florida for his undergraduate education and the University of South Carolina for medical school. During medical school, Rony was involved in various extracurricular activities regarding addiction medicine/psychiatry, which ultimately developed his passion for this field. Throughout residency, Rony has discovered his love for teaching and mentoring students and residents. In his spare time, Rony enjoys serving at his local church, playing basketball & soccer, rooting for the Los Angeles Lakers, and spending time with his wife.

Paul (Pablo) Santiago Ruiz

Chief Resident of PGY3s

Pablo Santiago Ruiz, MD, is the chief resident of PGY3s at the UC Riverside Psychiatry Residency Training Program. Raised in the San Gabriel Valley, Dr. Ruiz is a son of Latin American immigrants and a first-generation physician who graduated from UC Riverside with a bachelor's degree in ethnic studies and a minor in Spanish. He then completed a post baccalaureate graduate certificate program at the UCSF School of Medicine before returning to UC Riverside to work and volunteer in various UCR SOM Pathway Programs. He received his medical degree from the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. For the last three years, Dr. Ruiz has served as the Recruitment Representative for his class. This past year he began working with a UCR SOM research team and members of the Purépecha community on a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute project titled Latinx and Indigenous Mexican Communities Partnering for Improved Mental Health. Ruiz has a history and strong interest in mentoring residents and students from backgrounds historically underrepresented in medicine.  His academic interests include trauma-focused psychiatry, immigrant mental health, and nutritional psychiatry. Outside of work, Ruiz enjoys long-distance running, weightlifting, reading, cooking with his sous vide machine, and spending time with loved ones.

Viviana Pizano

Program Coordinator

Viviana Pizano, MHA, is the psychiatry residency program coordinator at the UC Riverside School of Medicine. She joined the UCR team in October 2024. Prior to her role at UCR, Viviana has worked as a program coordinator for the Internal Medicine Department at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center and as a health educator with San Bernardino County’s Department of Public Health. Viviana has a master’s degree in healthcare administration from Loma Linda University (LLU) and a bachelor of arts degree in public health policy from UC Irvine (UCI). At LLU, Viviana was a recipient of the Delta Omega Honorary Society award and Scholarship Training Award for Community Resilience (STACR) scholarship. At UCI, Viviana participated in the UC Education Abroad Program (UCEAP) where she studied in London, United Kingdom for four months. In her spare time, Viviana enjoys reading (horror, thriller, and romance novels), journaling, working out, finding good coffee spots, and trying different restaurants with her partner.

Roberta Cole

Program Coordinator

Roberta Cole, BA, is the program coordinator for both the UC Riverside Psychiatry Residency Program and the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship. The youngest of seven siblings and the first in her family to attend college, Roberta holds an AS in business administration and recently celebrated the completion of her BA in leadership studies from Cal Poly Humboldt. She is passionate about advancing her education and plans to pursue a master of public health, with the goal of one day leading a team dedicated to improving community health and access to care. In her role as coordinator, Roberta brings strong organizational skills, empathy, and a deep commitment to supporting residents, fellows, and faculty alike. Outside of work, she enjoys camping with her family, traveling, and getting lost in a good book whenever she has the chance.