About Us

My brain listens to me now.

We live in an attention economy, a world that has been optimized, deliberately, for maximum dopamine dependence. Every scroll, product, and notification is designed to keep us reaching for more.

That takes a real toll on the brain’s reward system, and on the people living with the consequences. We think it’s time someone built care for that.

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Leadership

Marlene Lira
MPH — Co-Founder & CEO
Marlene leads Quel’s vision and strategy. A substance use epidemiologist, telemedicine expert, and addiction policy leader, she received her MPH in epidemiology from Harvard and has been in the addiction field for over 15 years. She founded Quel to make cutting edge treatments genuinely accessible to those wanting to regain agency in their lives.
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Steven D. Klein
MD, PhD — Co-Founder & Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Klein leads clinical care at Quel. A board-certified addiction medicine physician, his work has helped pioneer new approaches to craving reduction, including the emerging use of GLP-1 therapies in behavioral care. A physician in long-term recovery, Dr. Klein brings lived experience and compassion to the ethos of Quel.

OUR MISSION

Bridging the gap between surface care and real change

Cravings and compulsive habits are among the most common human experiences there are. Yet for decades, care has focused on the surface behavior and individual choice, without addressing the underlying biology beneath it. That’s the gap Quel was built to close.

The old approach

Focused on surface behavior and individual choice.

The Gap

That’s the gap Quel was built to close.

The Experience

Craving and compulsive habits are incredibly common.

The missing Piece

What’s been left unaddressed is the biology underneath.

The Insight

Many different habits often run through the same reward pathways.

The opportunity

That shared biology deserves a new standard of care.

The shift

Care grounded in evidence, not willpower.

Our approach

Modern, private care for the brain’s reward system.

OUR THESIS

The dopamine health thesis

Different habits that often run through the same reward pathways. We think that shared biology deserves a category of its own. We call it dopamine health: caring for the brain’s reward system directly, with modern therapeutics that may include GLP-1 medications when clinically appropriate.*

*GLP-1 receptor agonists, including semaglutide (Wegovy®, Ozempic®), tirzepatide (Mounjaro®, Zepbound®), and orforglipron (Foundayo™), have not been approved by the FDA for substance use disorders, cravings, or behavioral compulsions. When used in this way, they are prescribed off-label based on clinical judgment and emerging research. Talk to your provider about the evidence, benefits, risks, and alternatives. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA.

Alcohol

nicotine

food

screens

gambling

pornography

other substances

OUR MISSION

Why we built Quel

01/
Because we had seen what's possible
Quel began with what we'd each seen about what becomes possible when care finally addresses the biology underneath a craving.
02/
Because the existing approach was outdated
Too much care treats just the behavior on the surface, or rests on the faulty premise of willpower.
03/
Because we wanted better
So we built the company we wished existed: modern, private, and grounded in evidence.

founding strategic partnership

Grounded in decades of addiction care

We’re proud that Caron Treatment Centers, one of the most established and respected names in addiction care, is a Founding Stratic Partner of Quel. Their support reflects how we see our role: not replacing the care people already trust, but extending it with a modern, virtual option for dopamine health.

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