My Voice: Patients as Advocates
Channel: AZ Bio
Date: 06/10/2023

My Voice: Patients as Advocates – Clare Cory, PhD, George Galliher, Mark Geiger, and Alex Tessmer (Moderator)

Clare Cory, Ph.D., is a two-time survivor of Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Following diagnoses in 2017 and 2021, she has undergone extensive treatment and lives with bilateral lymphedema. Raised in a small town in Montana, she has made Arizona home for more than three decades. A clinical psychologist, she has served as Associate Director of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe’s Centered Spirit Behavioral Health program for more than 26 years. She shares about her cancer experiences in a blog, momentsofclareity.com. She is passionate about advocacy, cancer research, family, sunrises and sunsets.

George C. Galliher, III  has been serving as a Peer Advocate since 1998. Living with a major depressive disorder before then; he managed to graduate college, work as a Biomedical R&D Engineer and as a Scientist – Chemist. He started a business as a Process & Product Validation specialist. Major Depression alone brought all career efforts to a halt. Fortunately, during a voluntary hospitalization, a doctor specializing in “psycho neuro pharmacology” prescribed a “magic bullet”.

Mark Geiger is a lifelong hydrocephalus advocate. Mark was diagnosed with hydrocephalus as a child and has undergone multiple shunt surgeries over his lifetime. He has made raising awareness and funding for hydrocephalus his life’s work, dedicating his time professionally as well as running marathons recreationally to raise awareness and support for the cause.  In 2023, Mark joined the team at Anuncia Medical as VP of Sales and Marketing where new innovative devices to help people living with hydrocephalus are designed, developed. and delivered. 

Alex Tessmer had just gotten married in 1997 when he started having difficulty hearing. After his wife persistently pleaded with him to get a hearing test, Alex finally visited an otologist in 1999. Sure enough, the otologist diagnosed him with significant hearing loss in the high frequency range. The cause of the hearing loss was most likely due to listening to loud music at a younger age. Even though hearing aid technology has come a long way, Alex still has difficulty hearing individuals in a noisy environments or if someone is trying to whisper to him. COVID-19 proved especially difficult communicating with people wearing masks since he was unable to read lips. Alex currently works at BD as an Associate Director of Ideation and enjoys adventures with his beautiful wife, Susan, and 4 kids.