Global Fellows in End-of-Life Care

The Global Fellows in End-of-Life Care program re-imagines one of our most transformative human experiences, our dying. Co-founded by the Completed Life Initiative and Death with Dignity, this fellowship program seeks to positively impact how we live our lives and how we die. With an interdisciplinary approach, the program welcomes applicants across a wide range of fields, including healthcare, medical and ethics research, law, activism, philosophy, and the arts.

In this year-long program, a cohort of seven fellows created projects that re-imagine the global conversation on end-of-life care. Applications for the 2024 Fellows project opened August 23rd and closed September 27, 2024. The fellowship program began in January 2025 with monthly virtual gatherings led by the Completed Life Initiative and Death with Dignity, featuring guest experts in end-of-life care.

In November 2025, the Completed Life Initiative and Death with Dignity convened the fellows in Toronto to mark the conclusion of the program with a two-day, in-person retreat. The first day of the retreat featured presentations of the fellows’ projects followed by rich and heartfelt Q&As—an inspiring day filled with laughter, tears, and meaningful conversations. The second day centered on a dynamic roundtable led by Dr. Sandy Buchman, palliative care physician and past president of the Canadian Medical Association, the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Ontario College of Family Physicians. It was a privilege to honor the dedication and creativity of these seven emerging leaders who are each shaping the future of end-of-life care in their own way.

Casimir (Caz) Bemski 

Early Childhood Educator and Artist
Belfast, Maine, United States

About: Caz Bemski works as an early childhood educator and volunteers as an end-of-life care worker with Maine Death with Dignity. As an artist and scholar, Caz is deeply interested in creating space for ways of being with death that accentuate processes of care, framings of hope, and omnipresent reminders of cultural significance and meaning. As a fellow, Caz hopes to further develop a generative creative process that honors the dead, shows care for the dying, and opens up new potentialities for how we might live along the way. Caz recently moved to Maine with their spouse, dog, and cat. 

Fellowship Project: Designing zines and art forms made of clay for individuals experiencing loss and grief.

Kim Burgas 

Design Strategist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center 
Williston, Vermont, United States

About: Kim Burgas is a strategic designer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center with a passion for care until the end of life and beyond. Kim integrates end-of-life considerations into their work at MSK, where they also help to facilitate Death over Dinners among staff, patients and caregivers. Outside of her role at MSK, she is in the early stages of co-organizing death and grief worker gatherings and events in Vermont with other advocates and practitioners. She is also co-developing a site of exploration supported by the Order of the Good Death fellowship, called Death Languages. Kim is a trained death doula and has a background in visual sociology, art and music, which she likes to use to inform and directly incorporate into her work when possible. She is thrilled to learn from and with others, and believes strongly in the power of collective thought and action.

Fellowship Project: Helping Patient Choices Vermont with usability testing and website redesign, and working with End of Life Choices New York’s implementation team in preparation for the potential signing of New York’s MAID law.

Nicole Dalmer

Associate Professor of Social Gerontology at McMaster University
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

About: Nicole Dalmer, MLIS, PhD, is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Health, Aging & Society at McMaster University and is an Associate Director of the Gilbrea Centre for Studies in Aging. Her work takes up an interdisciplinary, critical gerontological approach as she explores the meanings, expectations, and values of connections (both with people and with technologies) in later life. Her background and training in library and information science help her to understand the intricacies of information practices, including how, where, and why people look for (or avoid) information related to end-of-life care. Her research has been published in The Gerontologist, Ageing & Society, Qualitative Health Research, and the Journal of Aging Studies, among others. In recognition of the calibre of her research, she was awarded the Canadian Association on Gerontology’s New Investigator Award (2022), the Canadian Association for Information Science’s Emerging Leader Award (2023), and the McMaster University Faculty of Social Sciences’ Early Career Researcher Award (2022).

Fellowship Project: Conducting an online, qualitative survey on how, where, and why older adults search for, access, and share information about death and dying and end-of-life care.

Bianca Esquivel

Chaplain, Thanatologist
Austin, Texas, United States

About: Bianca Esquivel has served in bereavement and end-of-life care for 15 years. This includes hospital chaplaincy, church support, restorative justice and direct service work for people who are incarcerated, group facilitation and pilgrimage leading, and being present for people at the time of death while supporting their families and sharing about the impact of organ donation. Bianca has studied at The American University of Paris and Oblate School of Theology. She obtained a BA in Psychology with minors in Sociology and Interdisciplinary Disability Studies from CUNY – School of Professional Studies and will complete a MS in Thanatology in May 2025 from Marian University. A certified thanatologist, yoga teacher, and spiritual director, Bianca is passionate about connecting with others and offering presence and accompaniment through holistic and authentic avenues that resonate with each person and their journey. 

About: Creating a journal and curriculum for providing end-of-life care and grief support to immigrants and refugees.

Josefina Miró Quesada Gayoso

Attorney and Co-Founder of Plataforma Dignidad
Lima, Peru and Stanford, California, United States

About: Josefina is a Peruvian human rights attorney who has been trailblazing the right to die with dignity in her home country. As the lawyer of Ana Estrada, she achieved a landmark victory in Peru’s Supreme Court, establishing this new constitutional right. Building on this success, she later won another pivotal case on the right to refuse life-sustaining treatment for Maria Benito. With a law degree from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Peru, an M.Phil. in criminology from the University of Cambridge, and expertise in journalism, Josefina brings over seven years of experience in research, advocacy, communication, and strategic litigation. She is the author of two books on gender inequalities in Peru and international crimes, and numerous articles exploring the importance of self-determination over our lives and bodies. Beyond her legal work, Josefina is a passionate feminist-activist, a singer and musician, and has been a TEDx speaker. Driven by a deep personal dedication to advancing human rights, she is committed to achieving transformative change at a global level in the fight for the right to die with dignity.

Fellowship Project: Promoting the right to die with dignity across Latin America through Plataforma Dignidad, an interdisciplinary end-of-life organization that she co-founded.

Anita Hannig

Author
Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

About: Anita Hannig, PhD, is a writer and researcher whose work explores shifting societal attitudes about the end of life. In recent years, Anita has emerged as a leading voice on death literacy in the United States, appearing on podcasts and at community events that tackle Americans’ changing relationship with death. Her 2022 book, The Day I Die: The Untold Story of Assisted Dying in America, recounts the stories of ordinary Americans who go to extraordinary lengths to be in control of their deaths. Her 2024 education tool, My Death Diary: A Guided Journal for Mortals, leads readers down a path to examining their own mortality. Previously, Anita held an appointment as tenured associate professor of anthropology at Brandeis University, where she taught classes on medicine, religion, and death and dying. Anita has also written for PBS, Newsweek, Cognoscenti, The Conversation, The Seattle Times, and Undark Magazine, among other outlets. She has spoken about her work in hospitals, medical schools, universities, churches, art museums, and law schools across the United States and beyond. 

Fellowship Project: Developing a children’s picture book to help children aged 4-7 navigate the complexities of “goodbyes.”

Benard Oduor

Medical Psychiatry Resident at PCEA Kikuyu Hospital
Kikuyu, Kiambu, Kenya

About: Dr. Benard Oduor is a medical officer at PCEA Kikuyu Hospital in Kiambu, Kenya. His roles include direct clinical work, patient education, and community outreach. Benard graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBChB) from Moi University School of Medicine, earning distinctions in internal medicine and psychiatry. Additionally, he has obtained certifications in medicine, health and human rights; monitoring, evaluation and learning, and enterprise management. He is a member of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists’ and Dentists’ Union. When he is not performing clinical roles, Benard is typically involved in research and community outreach. He has co-authored several papers with a special focus on health behaviors and learning experiences. Recognizing the numerous gaps in palliative and end-of-life care, he intends to work with numerous cadres of providers, especially nurses, to improve access to these services in Kenya.

Fellowship Project: Providing intermediate training to generalist practitioners in end-of-life care to increase the number of palliative and end-of-life services in Kenya.