Michael W. Rabow, MD
Founding Director of the MERI Center.  

He is the Director of the Symptom Management Service and Medical Director of Palliative Care at the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Professor of Clinical Medicine and Urology at UCSF, he serves as the Associate Chief of Education & Mentoring in the Division of Palliative Medicine and holds the Helen Diller Family Chair in Palliative Care.

Redwing Keyssar, RN
Director of Patient and Caregiver Education at the MERI Center.

She is a nurse, author, educator, and "midwife" to the dying. She presents nationally on issues related to Palliative and End of Life Care and this year she received the prestigious Humanities Award from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

Danielle M. Chammas, MD
Co-director of Patient and Caregiver Education

Danielle Chammas, MD is a palliative care physician and psychiatrist who works in the UCSF Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Symptom Management Clinic.  In addition to providing clinical care, her professional and scholarly interests include the intersection of psychiatry and palliative care, the psychological dimensions of life-limiting illness, therapeutic communication, medical education, clinician wellness, and medical humanities.

Gayle Kojimoto, BA

Gayle Kojimoto has worked at UCSF since 2003 in various administrative roles from surgery scheduler to practice coordinator to her current position as program manager in the Division of Palliative Medicine. At the MERI Center, Gayle’s passion for palliative care has only grown and she has learned that palliative care offers more than just medication to treat patients. As a co-facilitator for the MERI Center’s poetic medicine workshops, she has blossomed into a lover of poetry and a poet herself.

Judy Long, MDiv, BCC

Judy Long, MDiv, BCC is a palliative care chaplain and educator and directs MERI’s patient, family, and clinician support with classes and consultation on resiliency, well-being, and grief.