collaborators

Dr. Moyez Jiwa is a family physician, associate dean and professor of Health Innovation at the Melbourne Clinical School, University of Notre Dame.working in Australia. He is also Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Health Design.

He was the author of the book on  the Art of Doctoring and the host of the Health Design Podcast. Moyez believes that doctors can heal even when it is not possible to cure and the best companions are those who nurture us when we are broken.

Moyez and Unfixed co-created The Course for Clinical Confidence, a certificate course for medical students.

Journal of Health Design, Mettle Health and Unfixed are a consortium of aligned organizations working together to create human-centered patient experiences and elevate their narratives.

 

BJ Miller, co-founder of Mettle Health, is an established thought leader in the area of serious illness, end-of-life issues and death. He has been a physician for 19 years and has counseled over 1,000 patients and family members. This vast experience has led him to understand what people really need when dealing with difficult health situations.

BJ has given over 100 talks, both nationally, and internationally, on themes of serious illness and dying, and has given over 100 media interviews, including podcasts, radio and print. His TED Talk, What Really Matters at the End of Life has been viewed over 11 million times. He also co-authored the book, A Beginner’s Guide to the End: Practical Advice for Living Life and Facing Death, which was published in 2019.

Mettle Health, Journal of Health Design, and Unfixed are a coalition of organizations working together to create human-centered patient experiences and elevate their narratives.

 

Elizabeth Jameson is an artist and writer who explores what it means to live in an imperfect body as part of the universal human experience. Before her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, she served as a public interest lawyer representing incarcerated children and those living with chronic illness.

As her disease progressed, she began using her MRI’s to create art as a way of reclaiming agency of her own medical data. Her work is part of permanent collections both nationally and internationally, including the National Institutes of Health, major universities, and medical schools. She now writes personal essays and speaks across the country sharing her experiences living with illness and disability. Her essay, “Losing Touch, Finding Intimacy,” was included in the New York Times book, About Us, released in September 2019 by Norton Publishing.

Elizabeth directs MS Confidential, an Unfixed media production.

 
 

Michael Wolcott is an Emmy award-winning filmmaker who has made films for public television and worked with nonprofit organizations to create fundraising films as well as other content. From the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, CA to women dealing with vesicovaginal fistulas in Chad, the stories he’s been a part of telling strive to help make a positive impact.

Michael joins the team as editor of Long Haul Voices, Unfixed Mind, and Life Rebalanced Chronicles: Season II.

Gustavo Serafini holds two degrees from University of Chicago and a law degrees from George Washington. He is an entrepreneur and founder and host of The Enabled Disabled Podcast. Born with proximal femoral focal deficiency (PFFD), disability has taught Gustavo many life lessons, and allowed him to meet with incredible friends and mentors along the way.

The Enabled Disabled Podcast is created for people with disabilities, as well as their families, friends, clinicians and therapists. The platform helps dive into how our guests have experienced disability; what has it taught them about themselves, about life, about others; what tools or experiences have helped them to better navigate and adapt to the world; what do they wish other people knew about them; what are they working on now; how would they like to improve the world.

Gustavo and Unfixed are collaborating together on Livable Design presentations and education in the NY Public Library community.

 
 
 

Dr. Annie Brewster is an Assistant Professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, a practicing physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston, a writer and a storyteller. She is also a patient, diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2001. In response to the disconnection she experienced in healthcare, both as a patient and a provider she founded Health Story Collaborative (HSC) in 2013. HSC is dedicated to helping individuals navigating health challenges find meaning, and ultimately heal, through storytelling. She is excited by interdisciplinary, cross-institutional collaborations that break through resistance to change. 

She is widely published and a frequent public speaker. Her new book, The Healing Power of Storytelling: Using Personal Narrative to Navigate Illness, Trauma, and Loss, will be out February 1, 2022. 

Annie and Unfixed are co-directing the Unfixed Mind: Navigating Mental Health Today in 2023.

 

Cynthia Ryan is Executive Director of the VeDA - Vestibular Disorders Association. She has worked in non-profit management for over 15 years, and previously was General Manager and Vice President of a financial research firm. Cynthia's mother, Eileene, suffers from Meniere's Disease.

VeDA, Cynthia and Unfixed collaborate on the Life Rebalanced Chronicles and co-host and co-produce the ICU (I See You) Podcast.

 
 

Martel Catalano is Executive Director & Co-Founder of Beyond My Battle - a non-profit aimed to reduce the stress of serious illness, rare disease, and disability through emotional support and educational resources rooted in mindfulness, awareness, and compassion.

In addition to serving as Executive Director of Beyond My Battle, she talks and teaches about living mindfully with an illness or disability. She has studied with teachers near and far, and has over 500 hours of yoga and meditation training. Martel is an undergraduate of Skidmore College and received her MBA from Green Mountain College where she focused on corporate sustainability.

Martel and Unfixed co-produce the Unfixed Podcast.

 
 
 

Daniel Defabio is Associate Director of Global Genes. At the age of 12 months Daniel’s first child Lucas was diagnosed with the rare disease Menkes Syndrome. His documentary about his son’s story led to Daniel co-founding DISORDER: The Rare Disease Film Festival and later The Disorder Channel, both dedicated to spreading awareness for patient families facing any of the more than 7,000 rare diseases.

Daniel has created videos and marketing materials for American Cinematographer, PBS, RightRice, bio-techs, hospitals, most major movie studios, TNT’s “The Closer” and HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” among others.

Daniel, Global Genes and The Disorder Channel collaborate with Unfixed on a number of workshops and content creation/distribution that empowers patients to tell their own stories through film.

 
 

Kim Kessler is obsessed with the internal genres and specializes in helping writers craft authentic character arcs in any setting. Her favorite clients are hungry to learn and bring their full authentic selves to the collaborative process. Nothing is more rewarding than digging in together to uncover the breakthroughs they need. As a novelist and filmmaker, she intersects trauma and grief with humor and love, believing somewhere in the dark is a redemptive perspective on the pain. Bring. On. All. The. Feels. She lives in the Ozarks with her stand-up comedian husband and three “think they’re a comedian” kids.

Kim is currently working with Unfixed to edit Dylan Shanahan’s memoir, Liberation of Being.