Keynote Speaker: Shirlene Obuobi, MD
Shirlene Obuobi is a Ghanaian-American physician, cartoonist, and author who grew up in Chicago, Illinois, Hot Springs, Arkansas and The Woodlands, Texas.
Born in Ghana, Obuobi came with her family to the United States when she was 6 years old and attended Washington University, St. Louis, MO, for undergrad. She has always had a passion for creating and is a self-taught artist and writer. Obuobi was drawn to the field of medicine, and specifically cardiology, because of the connection she could have with patients and their families.
Her comics, which have focused on the challenges of being a Ghanaian-American woman in medicine and the challenges of medical school, have gained nearly 38,000 followers on her Instagram account. Her comics have been featured in UChicago Medicine, Proto Magazine and the Medical University of Vienna’s Art, Action, Attitude/Body exhibit.
When she’s not in the hospital (and let’s be honest, even when she’s in it), she can be found drawing comics, writing on her phone, and obsessing over her three cats. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Her debut novel, On Rotation, has been featured on national outlets such as Teen Vogue, the Washington Post, and Good Morning America. Her latest novel, Between Friends & Lovers (July 2024) is a story of love and friendship in the age of social media—where what you see might not be all you get.
Nicole Robinson
Nicole Robinson serves as the Narrative Medicine Program Manager at Akron Children’s Hospital and teaches at Northeast Ohio Medical University. She is the author of the collection of poems, Without a Field Guide (Unbound Edition Press) and her collaborative research on the use of narrative medicine has appeared in Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics, Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, ATS Scholar, and elsewhere. Robinson is the recipient of Individual Excellence Awards for poetry from the Ohio Arts Council and the 2022 Humanities Award from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
Theatre with Gretchen Case, PhD
Gretchen Case is the Director of the Center for Health Ethics, Arts, and Humanities at the University of Utah, where she is a faculty member in the Department of Theatre and the Department of Internal Medicine. She has taught arts and humanities at six universities and four medical schools.
Mark B. Stephens, MD MS FAAFP
Mark B. Stephens, MD MS FAAFP, is the Associate Dean for Medical Education at the Penn State College of Medicine, University Park Campus in State College, PA. Prior to joining the faculty at Penn State, he was Professor and Chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, having served 27 years in the US Navy. Dr. Stephens’ professional interests include physician wellness, exercise medicine, rural health and the use of arts/humanities in medical education.
