50. Diary of a Dying Girl: Storytelling to Shift Perspectives

Diane Shader Smith, has had a vibrant career as a writer, speaker, publicist, and fundraiser with an extensive roster of clients during her multi-decade career. When Diane’s daughter Mallory died at the age of 25, she brought Mallory’s memoir to publication as Salt in My Soul (Random House 2019), which led to the documentary of the same name (3Arts Entertainment). Using Mallory’s words, Diane has given 250+ talks worldwide about patient insights, the global health crisis called AMR, and phage therapy - everything Mallory wrote about and stood for. In May of 2024, Random House published an adaptation of Mallory’s first memoir under the title, Diary of a Dying Girl, that shifts the lens towards the emotional hurdles and mental health challenges of living with resistant bacteria. Two months before publication, Diane, a recent graduate of the Narrative Medicine CPA Program at Columbia University, conceived of the idea to create The Global AMR Diary: Collective Storytelling to Shift Perspectives and Shape Policy. The World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and many other public health organizations agreed to be part of this important global initiative. Diane has been interviewed by many major media outlets and written an Op-ed for USA Today and for the CDC. In her talk, Diane Shader Smith will delve into the global crisis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), illuminated through the powerful narrative of her daughter Mallory’s experience as captured in "Diary of a Dying Girl." Diane will explore how storytelling can be a transformative force in shifting perspectives and shaping health policies. She will showcase compelling slides that bring to life the urgent need for action, emphasizing the critical role of narrative medicine in public health advocacy. Drawing on her extensive experience and the impactful work of The Global AMR Diary, Diane’s presentation will not only highlight the personal stakes of AMR but also mobilize stakeholders to commit to meaningful change. This talk promises to leave audiences armed with knowledge and a renewed drive to tackle this pressing health challenge. YouTube of this presentation: https://youtu.be/XReY3B161Qw To learn more, go to: https://diaryofadyinggirl.com/ https://www.globalamrdiary.org/ https://www.calfund.org/mallorys-legacy-fund/