Emily Beckman, PhD is a visiting adjunct assistant scholar in the Medical Humanities – Health Studies Program, IU School of Liberal Arts, IUPUI. She earned her BA in Biology from William Jewell College, a MA in Health and Humanities from Michigan State University and a Doctorate in Medical Humanities from Drew University. Her teaching and research interests in Medical Humanities include literature and medicine, end-of-life communication, and empathy in medicine.
Brenda J. Edusei, BA, MPH, RN, BSN is a staff nurse on the Renal/Metabolic Unit at Methodist Hospital. She earned a BA in Economics and French from Colby College, a MPH in health care finance from Boston University School of Public Health, and a BSN from Graceland University in Missouri. Her previous work includes the Peace Corps in Africa, health care management in the Boston area, and small business owner. Currently she is pursuing her APN degree at IUPUI. Brenda’s interests include elder adults with impaired decision-making, palliative care, and clinician-family communication.
Susan Elpers, RN, BSN is a shift coordinator and staff nurse on the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Indiana University Hospital. She graduated from the IU School of Nursing in 1995 and started her career in the Children’s Cancer Center at Riley Hospital. She has been a member of the MICU since 2000. Her project explores the impact that ICU nurses have on decision making in end-of-life care in the ICU.
Michelle Mellencamp, RN, BSN is a case manager for Ruth Lilly Hospice of Clarian, providing end of life care for patients in homes and extended care facilities. Michelle graduated from IU School of Nursing with a BSN in 2003, and began her career on the Oncology Unit at Methodist Hospital. Two and one-half years later, she transferred to Ruth Lilly Hospice and found her calling. She is motivated to care not only for patients and families in this arena, but also fellow nurses, and is planning a project examining how nurses cope with the losses of their patients.
Dodie Stein, PhD, MSW, LSW is a Medical Social Worker for the Home Dialysis Program in Adult Renal Services at IU Hospital. She has degrees from Syracuse University, the University of Southern California, the University of Iowa, and Indiana University. Prior to entering Social Work, she practiced Audiology in a variety of pediatric and adult diagnostic and rehabilitative settings, consulted in small business management and technology transfer, and developed a range of academic and counseling curricula. Her research interests include patient and clinician attitudes about hospice, and the influence of public policy on clinical decision making.
Donald Stikeleather, MFA, MDiv, CHTP is a second-year Chaplain Resident at Clarian, where his ministry focuses on Cardiovascular and Family Practice patients. He completed a Master of Divinity at Naropa University in Boulder, CO, after earning three units of Clinical Pastoral Education at Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center in South Bend, IN, and a fourth unit at the Samaritan Counseling Center in Colorado Springs, CO, where he visited offenders awaiting placement. Donald is a Certified Healing Touch practitioner and a Tibetan Buddhist, serving as a spiritual mentor and meditation instructor in the lineage of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. His project explores the indirect impact on families of patient focused end-of-life interventions.
Kristin Strawhun, MD is an Internist currently pursuing further training as a Fellow in Pulmonary and Critical Care medicine. She is a graduate of Indiana University School of Medicine where she also completed her residency in Internal Medicine. She subsequently worked for a year as Chief Medicine Resident at the VA Hospital. Her interests pertaining to ethics are varied but include end of life care, decision making in critical care units, and the fair and just distribution of limited health care resources.