Join us for an afternoon with two comics creators who have both used the medium to explore patient experiences. Although they take very different approaches, Cathy’s and Tony’s comics illustrate the power of the medium to not only provide health information and raise awareness, but also to offer reassurance and stimulate discussion.

Cathy Leamy is a Boston-based cartoonist specializing in autobiographical and health education comics. Her work includes the Suzie and Ray wellness webcomics for Massachusetts General Hospital's DiabetesViews blog and the humorous health education comic Diabetes is After Your Dick!, as well as and research and co-writing for the Marvel Comics collection Women of Marvel: Celebrating Seven Decades. She is a long-time member of the comics collective Boston Comics Roundtable.

Cathy’s website: http://www.metrokitty.com/

Tony Pickering created Diabetes: Year One as part of his MA in Illustration at MMU’s School of Art. Diabetes: Year One is a ‘comics-anthology’ combining comics and poetry to chart his first year since being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. The work offers a patient perspective to explore the design of the patient-practitioner interface, aimed at developing awareness and understanding of the patient experience for new diabetics, parents and family, medical practitioners and, in a wider sense, patients.

Tony’s website: http://pick-art.co.uk/