Samantha Barfield is the Project Coordinator for Project FREEDOM South.  Samantha earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the University of Florida and practices part-time as a pharmacist at the Medical Center Pharmacy in Brewton, Alabama.  Samantha also holds an advanced alcohol and drug counseling certificate. She has over twelve years of experience working with men and women in residential treatment and recovery from substance use disorders.   She is passionate about bringing awareness to the disease of addiction,  educating on the risk of death from drug overdose, and supporting the grieving process of families that have been directly impacted by the death of a loved one from drug overdose.   Her interests include substance use disorders, mental health, resiliency, medication management and improving adherence with medications used in substance use disorders and mental illness.

Dr. Luke Engeriser is currently the Psychiatry Residency Program Director, Addiction Medicine Fellowship Director, and Associate Professor at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine.  He also serves as the Deputy Chief Medical Officer of AltaPointe Health.  He attended medical school at Northwestern University and completed psychiatry residency training at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu. During his final year of residency, Dr. Engeriser received the Al Glass Award, the military's highest psychiatry resident research award, for his paper exploring the psychological effects of warfare. Dr. Engeriser served an additional three years in the Army at Fort Benning, Georgia, where he held the position of Chief, Department of Behavioral Health. After separating from the Army, Dr. Engeriser was Medical Director of Mid-Coast Mental Health Center/PenBay Psychiatry in Rockland, Maine. Prior to attending medical school, he completed a Master of Arts in Divinity at the University of Chicago and worked as a teacher of English at the Teacher Training College in Torun, Poland. Dr. Engeriser is a Past President of the Alabama Psychiatric Physicians Association, and he is currently President-Elect of the Alabama Society of Addiction Medicine.  He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and is board certified in Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine.

Ryan Leaf is a former American football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. He played for the San Diego Chargers and the Dallas Cowboys between 1998 and 2001, and also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Seattle Seahawks.

Leaf spent his college career with the Washington State Cougars, where he was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy after his junior year. He was selected as the second overall pick by the San Diego Chargers in the 1998 NFL Draft after Peyton Manning, but his career was shortened due to poor play, bad behavior, injuries, and struggles with his work ethic and ability to stay focused. An episode of NFL Top 10 ranked him as the No. 1 “draft bust” in NFL history.

After his NFL career ended, Leaf completed his degree at Washington State. He had legal troubles involving drugs beginning in 2010 after a Texas judge sentenced him to 10 years probation. Two years later, Leaf pleaded guilty to felony burglary and drug possession in Montana. After a suspended sentence with a stint in drug rehabilitation, Leaf began serving a seven-year sentence in state prison in December 2012. On September 9, 2014, Leaf was sentenced to five years in prison for violating his Texas probation by breaking into a home in Montana to steal prescription drugs, but he was released from prison on December 3, 2014.

Leaf currently works as a Program Ambassador for Transcend Recovery Community, a group of sober living houses in Los Angeles, Houston, and New York. He also hosts a radio show and works as a college football analyst on television.

Richard A. Tucker is a former Assistant Special Agent in Charge for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).  Mr. Tucker received his Bachelor of Science degree in Urban Life from Georgia State University.  His extensive experience in law enforcement includes 10 years as a police officer; Mr. Tucker’s 25-year DEA career has included both domestic and international assignments.  He speaks fluent Thai. He has held a variety of management and enforcement positions including, investigations, intelligence and personal security. He has presented to national and international audiences on a wide variety of topics, including undercover operations, demand reduction, illicit abuse of prescription medicines and intelligence. Mr. Tucker has also instructed law enforcement professionals on issues involving conducting investigations of drug trafficking organizations. He is retired from his law enforcement career and engaged in consulting to the healthcare industry.  Mr. Tucker’s experience provides unique perspective on many issues, including property crime, organized crime, and trafficking and use of drugs at the local, regional, and international levels. This broad view also provides compelling insight on many legal and enforcement issues.