Robert Darling, MD, Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Rob Darling serves as Medical Director for the BaleDoneen Method Telemedicine Practice. He is a 1985 graduate of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) School of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland. Following completion of a transitional internship at the Bethesda Naval Hospital in 1986 he entered basic flight training at the Naval Aerospace Medicine Institute (NAMI) Pensacola, Florida and was designated a Naval Flight Surgeon in 1987. He then served aboard the nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) and became second seat qualified in both the F14 and A6 tactical jets. He completed a residency in emergency medicine at the Naval Medical Center San Diego in 1994.
Other assignments included service at the United States Naval Academy, the emergency department at the Naval Hospital, US Marine Corps base, Camp Pendleton, CA, and the US Army Medical Research Institute of Iinfectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Fort Detrick, Maryland.
In 1996 he was selected as the first emergency medicine physician to serve the President of the United States at the White House. He cared for the president, the vice president, their families and the President’s cabinet as they traveled the world aboard Air Force One from 1996 until 1999.
He completed his 25 years of active duty military service at the rank of Captain as the Director of the Navy Medicine Office of Homeland Security in the office of the Navy Surgeon General in Washington, DC.
Following his retirement from the Navy in 2006, he returned to the USUHS School of Medicine as the Director of the Center for Disaster and Humanitarian Assistance Medicine (CDHAM). He has been in private practice since 2009 and has been practicing medicine for nearly 40 years.
He currently serves as Medical Director at Crisis24, Private Strategic Group. He serves on numerous boards. He has numerous publications and has lectured extensively. He lives in Bluffton, SC with his wife of 38 years Shari Darling.
Dr. Gordon Marler, DO, BaleDoneen Telemed Provider
Dr. Marler’s interest in healthcare began before he graduated from high school and was further solidified while working as a research assistant and Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) at the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
He attended Brigham Young University–Idaho, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry. He then attended A.T. Still University, the founding institution of osteopathic medicine, where he earned his medical degree. Following graduation, he completed an additional year as an Academic Fellow, collaborating with a team tasked with redesigning and enhancing the university’s medical curriculum.
Dr. Marler completed his Family Medicine residency at Summa Western Reserve Hospital in Ohio, where he served as Chief Resident during his final year of training.
In recent years, Dr. Marler has developed a special interest in combating the cardiovascular disease epidemic affecting millions across the United States and around the world. This mission is also deeply personal, as cardiovascular disease has impacted members of his own family. He is passionate about early detection and prevention and has trained in the preventive cardiology approach developed by Dr. Bradley Bale and Dr Amy Doneen. Their evidence-based method has helped prevent heart attacks and strokes in thousands of patients over more than two decades. Dr. Marler is excited to bring these preventive strategies to more patients and help them achieve better long-term health outcomes.
Outside of medicine, Dr. Marler is passionate about humanitarian service. While attending BYU–Idaho, he and his wife organized student humanitarian trips through CHARM and Charity Anywhere to the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, providing medical and humanitarian aid to underserved communities. During these efforts, they worked alongside a surgical team performing cleft palate repairs for children in the Dominican Republic.
After high school, Dr. Marler spent two years in the Dominican Republic as a missionary, where he became fluent in Spanish.
More recently, Dr. Marler and his wife have led humanitarian teams serving communities in Guatemala. Their oldest daughter is currently engaged in mission work in Costa Rica. Dr. Marler has also enjoyed serving in numerous volunteer leadership roles within his church and local community, including five years as bishop of his local congregation.
Above all, he treasures time spent with his wife, Anngel, and their seven children.
Cheri LeBlanc, MD, BaleDoneen Telemed Provider
Cheri H. LeBlanc, MD is an internal medicine physician in Baton Rouge, LA, where she has been in private practice for 30 years. Dr. LeBlanc attended LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans and then an internal medicine residency at Ochsner in New Orleans. In 2015 she discovered the BaleDoneen Method and became certified and trained by Drs. Bale and Doneen to offer BDM services to her patients including in person heart attack and stroke assessments.
She is married to her lifelong love, Joseph LeBlanc for 40 years; they have 2 children, Phillip and Heather, and 1 grandchild to Phillip and daughter-in-law Jinsol, Phillip co-founded his own AI company and Heather is finishing up training as a surgeon with the US Navy. Dr. LeBlanc loves to sew quilts and fishing.
Being one of the initial BDM Telemed providers affords Dr. LeBlanc the opportunity to bring her experience and passion to help people beyond her local community achieve their cardiovascular prevention health goals.
Lindsey Schwaderer, ARNP, BaleDoneen Telemed Provider
Lindsey Schwaderer, an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP), brings over 15 years of expertise in healthcare, with a specialization in cardiovascular medicine. Driven by a passion for heart health and wellness, she delivers expert, evidence-based care, emphasizing both the prevention and management of cardiovascular diseases. Lindsey is deeply committed to improving her patients’ long-term health outcomes through compassionate and personalized treatment.
Beyond her professional achievements, Lindsey is a devoted wife and mother to two energetic boys. Married to her husband for 13 years, she embraces an active and adventurous lifestyle. Her favorite pastimes include traveling, wake-surfing, skiing, hiking, and cherishing quality moments with her family.
Natalia Darling, PA-C, BaleDoneen Telemed Provider
Natalia Darling is a Board-Certified Physician Assistant. Natalia has a passion for preventative medicine and has continued to foster that passion through her extensive training and knowledge in the BaleDoneen Method. She was born in Washington DC where she spent most of her childhood. She graduated from the University of South Carolina magna cum laude with a major in exercise science with an emphasis in health professions and a minor in Spanish in 2011. She then worked as a medical assistant for two years prior to enrolling and graduating from the Medical University of South Carolina with her PA degree in 2015. She has held positions as a PA in both pediatrics and in Emergency Medicine, which helped to foster her passion for preventative medicine and her interest in the BaleDoneen Method. She currently lives in Charleston, SC where she enjoys spending time outdoors and exercising, gardening, reading and boating.
Lindsey Heffner, PA-C, BaleDoneen Telemed Provider
Lindsey Heffner PA-C is a board-certified Physician Assistant with over 10 years of experience in multiple specialties including Emergency Medicine, Gastroenterology, and Primary care Telemedicine and Emergency Telemedicine. She received her Masters of Physician Assistant studies from the Medical University of South Carolina. Lindsey is passionate about the impact that the BaleDoneen Method has on patient lives.
Lindsey currently resides in Charleston, SC with her husband and daughter. In her free time she enjoys traveling and spending time on the water.
Katrina Darling Friedman, MS, RDN, LDN
Katrina Darling Friedman, MS, RDN, LDN is a registered dietitian and functional nutritionis that specializes in weight management and heart health. Her mission is to help you work with your body (versus against it), guide you from overwhelm to ease, and empower you with a better understanding of your own nutrition needs to help you reconnect with your body, transform your life, and optimize your health with targeted nutrition, lifestyle, and supplement therapies. In her free time, Katrina loves to play with her son, walk her dog, play MahJongg with her girlfriends, cook with her husband, travel, and attempt home DIY projects with or without her husbands consent.