FOUNDER

Alexis Drutchas, MD is a palliative care physician and the Director of the Core Communication Program at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She trained in Family Medicine at Brown University and worked as a primary care physician at Fenway Health from 2015-2019, an LGBTQ+ health center in Boston. Alexis went on to complete the Harvard Interprofessional Palliative Care Fellowship Program and remained at Massachusetts General Hospital on the inpatient palliative care team from 2020-2025. Alexis’ clinical interests and expertise land uniquely at the intersection of serious illness communication training, LBGTQ+ health, storytelling, writing, and community building. Her work has been featured in The New England Journal of Medicine, NBC, CNN, Newsweek, and Health Affairs, among others. Alexis co-founded The Palliative Story Exchange in 2020. She grew up in the greater Detroit area, Japan, and Hong Kong, and now lives in Boston with her wife and son. 

FOUNDER

Richard Leiter is palliative care physician, writer, and researcher at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He serves as Director of the Adult Inpatient Palliative Care Consult Service and directs the Dana-Farber Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care’s Writing Core. Ricky received his medical degree and an MA in Medical Humanities and Bioethics at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He completed Internal Medicine residency and Chief Residency at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center before matriculating to the Harvard Interprofessional Palliative Care Fellowship Program. Ricky writes about the intersection of palliative care and ethics, and the emotional experience of working in the field. His writing has been published in the New York Times, The New England Journal of Medicine, STATNews, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, and Cell, among others.

FOUNDER

Rachel Rusch is a palliative care social worker, educator, and researcher at Children's Hospital Colorado and an Assistant Professor with the Section of Pediatric Palliative Medicine at the University of Colorado. She serves as the Psychosocial Director with the Pediatric Palliative Medicine Team at Children's Hospital Colorado and is a founding member of The Palliative Story Exchange.  She received her social work degree from New York University’s Silver School of Social Work and holds an additional master’s degree in child development from Sarah Lawrence College. She completed further training through NYU’s Zelda Foster Program in Palliative and End of Life Care as an MSW Fellow as well as the Harvard Interprofessional Palliative Care Fellowship Program. With an extensive background in the performing arts, Rachel’s current education and program-building initiatives include the incorporation of storytelling, improvisation, and creative writing toward the enhancement of clinical communication and the uplifting of patient-centered narratives. A recipient of the Cambia Health Foundation Sojourns Scholar Leadership Program grant, her research centers on the power of the Palliative Arts to foster change in health care.