Founder, Co-Chair

Bryant Lin, MD, MEng is a primary care physician, educator and researcher. The cornerstone of Dr. Lin's work is keeping medicine focused on humans - patients, providers, families and trainees - and not lost in technology and algorithms. He is an accomplished inventor with 12 issued US patents and an experienced entrepreneur. Dr. Lin holds appointments as Clinical Professor of Medicine, Co-Director of the Center for Asian Health Research and Education (CARE) and Director of Medical Humanities and Arts at Stanford.

Founder, Co-Chair

Dr. Yurkiewicz is a practicing physician and award-winning medical journalist on the faculty at Stanford University School of Medicine. Board certified in internal medicine, oncology, and hematology, she is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Primary Care and Population Health in the Department of Medicine and Co-Director of Primary Care for Cancer Survivorship. Dr. Yurkiewicz is a physician-writer whose work has appeared in The Best American Science and Nature Writing, the Atlantic, Scientific American, TIME, and elsewhere. She is the author of the book, Fragmented: A Doctor’s Quest to Piece Together American Health Care, from the publisher W.W. Norton.

Planning Committee Member

Brett McClung is a seasoned healthcare executive, devoted to transforming the healthcare ecosystem by redesigning and successfully implementing population health models, alongside investing in consumer/technology driven transformation strategies that improve health, wellbeing, and chronic disease outcomes.

Brett is the former President & CEO of Baptist Health, a $2+B integrated delivery network (IDN) with 200+ sites in Florida and is recognized as one of Florida’s Most Influential Business Leaders (2020, 2021). Immediately prior, Brett was the Chief Operations

Leader for the north market at Texas Health Resources (THR), a $6+B integrated delivery network (IDN) with 350+ sites in Texas. For over 20 years at THR, Brett designed, built and ran best in class, academically affiliated hospitals and physician partnerships focused on incorporating innovations from validated research.

Currently, he is collaborating with Stanford Medical School and Stanford Health Care to reimagine virtual care and to deploy emerging applications, including generative AI, into healthcare systems. Brett is the Executive Chair & Interim CEO of Rovia Clinical, Gauge Capital’s clinical trials portfolio company. He is an Independent Board Director for Proeza Venture’s Premier Healthcare Professionals, as well as for Tacoma Holding’s Frontpoint Health.

Planning Committee Member

New York Times bestselling author and Stanford professor Laurel Braitman is a driving force in bridging the gap between storytelling and the medical world. She works with doctors and medical students—who, like many other frontline workers, are facing record levels of burnout—and proves that the simple act of telling our own stories can help build community, improve mental health, and equip us with the communication skills we need to make a real difference for those around us.

Planning Committee Member

Frish Brandt has worked in the arts for 45 years, 40 of which were in association with Fraenkel Gallery where she served as President and Partner. In that time she helped build the gallery’s legacy worldwide while overseeing client and artist relationships and participating in the gallery’s artistic direction. Building on the essential role relationships play in her work, Frish created a practice of letter writing for others in 2014. This work began in hospice and palliative care and quickly evolved to include all mortals. As a “letter midwife” Frish helps people address unfinished business, and write Last[ing] Letters of many varieties. Frish provides her services to patients at Stanford Hospital, By the Bay Health, Commonweal and has led a range of letter writing workshops in museums and health care environments. She is currently working on a book that will serve as an invitation and a guide to writing one's essential letters.

Planning Committee Member

Christy Hartman is the Program Manager for Medical Humanities and Arts at the Stanford School of Medicine. Christy holds an MA in Ecological Psychology and Environmental Humanities. Her essays have been published in Souvenir Lit Journal, About Place Journal, the Stanford Daily, and in the book, Aftermath: Explorations of Loss & Grief.

Planning Committee Member

Jacqueline Genovese is the executive director of the Stanford Medical Humanities and Arts Program (Medicine and the Muse) at the Stanford School of Medicine. She has faculty leadership to significantly grow and expand the program, envisioning and creating new classes, programs and arts and performance opportunities for the Stanford Medicine and Stanford University communities. Her leadership has been recognized with the Stanford Medicine Inspiring Leadership Change Award, the Stanford University Amy J. Blue Award, and the Stanford Undergraduate Veteran Student Association Appreciation Award. During her tenure, Medicine and the Muse received several CASE awards, including the Grand Gold, for its innovative and community building programming in response to the COVID19 pandemic. Genovese holds an MFA in creative non-fiction, and an MA in medical humanities and the arts. Her medical humanities thesis work focused on trauma, narrative and the parallels between Medicine and the Military. She leads a War Literature and Writing seminar for military affiliated students at Stanford, a Literature and Medicine Dinner and Discussion series for physicians, and works with physicians on their stories for a live storytelling series, Story Rounds.

Planning Committee Member

Sonia Mehmi is a dedicated scholar currently pursuing her master's degree at Columbia University. She holds an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and Molecular & Cell Biology, complemented by extensive research and lab experience. Sonia is driven by a passion for the life sciences and an ambition to venture into health law. Her academic journey at Columbia University is focused on combining her scientific expertise with legal studies, preparing her for a career at the intersection of healthcare, policy, and law. Sonia aspires to leverage her diverse background to contribute meaningfully to advancements in healthcare and medical policy.

Program Assistant

Jeenah Gwak is a pre-medical undergraduate student at Stanford University, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in biology with a concentration in the neurosciences along with a master’s degree in general biology. She serves as the program assistant for the general Stanford Medical Humanities and the Arts program as well as the teaching assistant for its summer programs.