“If you can change your mind, you can change your life.”
— William James

Dr. Julia Ridgeway-Diaz is a board-certified psychiatrist and neuropsychiatrist with expertise in complex brain-based conditions. She also works as a healthcare industry consultant in the pharmaceutical and health tech spaces.

With Axonal Strategies, she now partners directly with families, healthcare organizations, and health-tech companies, offering both individualized coaching and strategic consultation.

Her mission is to bridge the gap between cutting-edge clinical expertise and real-world application—empowering clients to ensure that the human side of care remains central.

Dr. Julia Ridgeway-Diaz, MD

Founder, Axonal Strategies

  • Board Certifications

    American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology

    General Adult Psychiatry

    United Council for Neurologic Subspecialities

    Behavioral Neurology & Neuropsychiatry

  • Training

    General Adult Psychiatry Residency

    Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tx

    Behavioral Neurology & Neuropsychiatry Fellowship

    Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tx

  • Education

    Medical School

    University of California, San Francisco

    Undergraduate

    Rice University, Houston, Tx

More about Dr. Diaz

After years at the forefront of academic psychiatry—serving as President of the Medical Staff and Director of Neuropsychiatry at The Menninger Clinic and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine—Dr. Diaz founded Axonal Strategies to create a more personal and flexible way to share her knowledge.

In her academic and clinical career, Dr. Diaz specialized in helping patients and families navigate the most challenging neuropsychiatric diagnoses.

Working as a consultant to other physicians on complex cases at a Tier 1 national referral center, she became known not only for her diagnostic precision, but also for her ability to translate medical complexity into clarity and support.

When not seeing patients, she developed and taught award-winning courses for medical students and resident physicians in the Texas Medical Center.

Dr. Diaz is fluent in Spanish.