Featured Writers

(She/Her)

Younghans oversees both of Michigan Medicine's blogs, Michigan Health and Michigan Health Lab. Most of her career has been spent working within the communication departments of several major academic medical centers in New York, Boston and now Michigan. Contact: @JoYounghans, joyoungh@med.umich.edu

Bergquist is the brand manager for Women’s Services at Michigan Medicine. She has extensive experience in marketing and communications, including 17 years with the University of Michigan.

Wiseman is a marketing manager for Michigan Medicine. She works with a variety of clinical areas, including ophthalmology, surgery, psychiatry, and endocrinology. She has over 14 years of experience in marketing and communications and an extensive writing background.

Megdell joined the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center communications team in 2022. Prior to that she served as the natural sciences writer for the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. Contact: megdella@med.umich.edu

Mostafavi covers communications for C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital. She leads media relations and helps coordinate social media content related to children’s and women’s health topics. Prior to joining the U-M Health System in 2012, Mostafavi spent 10 years as a journalist.

Otman covers neurosciences, cardiology and dermatology for Michigan Medicine. A television news producer turned health care communicator, Otman specializes in storytelling, media relations and social media surrounding clinical advances, new research and compelling patient stories.

Demsky joined the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center communications team in 2019. Prior to that he served as director of communications for the University of Michigan's Life Sciences Institute and science editor for Medicine at Michigan Magazine. Contact: idemsky@med.umich.edu

Dwyer has been the illustrator and graphic designer for the Michigan Health and Michigan Health Lab blogs since 2021. Before joining the Michigan Medicine communication team, he spent 4 years working with Michigan Medicine's pediatric diabetes clinic designing educational resources for patient families. He has a passion for storytelling, elevating design in healthcare, and using illustration and design to aid in understanding complex concepts.

Sawani handles communications for several departments across Michigan Medicine and the University of Michigan Medical School, including gastroenterology/digestive diseases, otolaryngology, radiology and government relations. She's passionate about fostering a sense of unity and bridging gaps between cultures through the art of storytelling. Prior to joining U-M in 2017, she worked in public affairs and political communications in Washington, D.C., and Southeastern Michigan.

(She/Her)

Imhoff, the team's Diabetes/Endocrinology, Kellogg Eye Center, Nephrology and Rheumatology communicator, joined Michigan Medicine in 2019. She's passionate about storytelling and brand activism. Twitter: @JordynImhoff

Gavin draws on more than 25 years of experience in communicating about science, medicine and health policy. She focuses mainly on the research of the 640 health services workers who belong to the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, who work to understand and improve the safety, quality, equity and affordability of health care. As part of the Michigan Medicine communication team, she has lead responsibility for primary care and mental health topics. Twitter: @Karag

Malcom is lead research communicator for Michigan Medicine’s basic science departments, as well as pulmonary and critical care medicine, infectious disease, urology, pathology and anesthesiology. She has more than 20 years of experience in strategic communications, marketing, and health and science writing.

Urban is a senior public relations representative for Michigan Medicine where she provides external communications and media relations consult for the Comprehensive Musculoskeletal Center, Departments of Orthopaedics, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Surgery and Emergency Medicine, as well as the Transplant Center and Survival Flight. She works with researchers and faculty to highlight their latest medical research and discoveries, and holds a soft spot in her heart for telling the stories of inspiring patients.

Fischer promotes innovations in clinical care and tells patient stories on behalf of the Rogel Cancer Center while also managing external communications for Michigan Medicine’s surgery and urology departments and the Transplant Center. Before joining the university, she spent six years as a journalist. She has a passion for elevating translational research, highlighting the human element of science, and using a lens of diversity, equity and inclusion to shape her storytelling.

Fawcett leads a team of communicators who produce targeted, innovative communication for the Rogel Cancer Center’s research and clinical enterprises. Prior to Michigan Medicine, Fawcett was a reporter at the Detroit News and editor for a web-based community for people with disabilities.

Fromson joined Michigan Medicine in March 2021. He covers the Comprehensive Musculoskeletal Center, Orthopedics, Rheumatology, Physical Medicine, Emergency Medicine and Survival Flight, Dermatology, Radiology and Allergy. He spent three years as a television reporter in West Michigan and is passionate about multimedia storytelling. Twitter: @noahfromson

Zeichman is the brand manager for C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan Health. She has extensive experience in communications and is mom to two children.

Priest is Michigan Medicine's Department of Communication's Marketing Director. She has extensive experience in health care communications and is a mom to two children.