Hello, I'm Cathy Leamy!

I'm a Boston-based cartoonist and health communication specialist, and I love exploring the use of comics and illustration in healthcare settings.

My background

I have an MS in health communication from Tufts University School of Medicine, a BS in computer science from Northeastern University, and a certificate in graphic design from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. I've worked in multiple clinical support positions, including web programmer for an electronic medical record system, medical editor and writer, and front desk staff. Medicine and healthcare are fascinating, and I get jazzed about all of it, soup to nuts!

I like approaching medicine with humor and plain talk; my health comics include What the Hell?! Why is My Doctor So Late? and the ever-popular Diabetes is After Your Dick! I also write and draw an autobio minicomic series (Geraniums and Bacon) and have been a member of Boston Comics Roundtable for many years.

When I'm not drawing comics, I work as a UX writer on the design systems team at athenahealth.

My last name, Leamy, rhymes with "dreamy"!

Bibliography

• Little Bitty Great Big Barriers to Healthcare, 2019
• "I'm a Medical Cartoonist!", Tufts Medicine, 2019
• Brain! Why Ya Gotta? 10 Ways That Our Thoughts Affect Our Mood, 2017
• Suzie & Ray wellness webcomics, Massachusetts General Hospital DiabetesViews website, 2012-2017
• Suzie & Ray: Just Another Tool in the Toolbox (illustrator, co-writer with Chrisanne Sikora), Massachusetts General Hospital, 2016
• Stops and Starts, 2016
• What the Hell?! Why is My Doctor So Late?, 2015
• Gross Vocabulary: Diary Comics from Health Communication Grad School, 2014
• In a Single Bound #3: "Nuttin' But Trouble!", Boston Comics Roundtable, 2013
• Mindful Drinking, 2013
• Diabetes is After Your Dick!, 2012
• Womanthology: Heroic: "Meanwhile, on the Moons of Saturn" (illustrator with writer Lisa Fortuner), IDW, 2012
• Geraniums and Bacon #6, 2012
• What's the Word? True Tales of a Woman on the Go, 2011
• Women of Marvel: Celebrating Seven Decades (historical researcher and co-writer with Jeph York), Marvel Comics, 2010
• Inbound #5: "Chase That Cheese!", Boston Comics Roundtable, 2010
• Reggie & Brian and the Lousy Nickname, 2010
• I Saw You: Comics Inspired by Real-Life Missed Connections: "Hello There Doctor Love", Three Rivers Press, 2009
• Planet Wifey (webcomic illustrator with writer Clarence Smith, Jr.), 2009
• Inbound #4: A Comic Book History of Boston: "The Old Howard", Boston Comics Roundtable, 2009
• And Don't Forget the Droids: "Found in Translation", 2009
• Greenblooded: An Introduction to Eco-Friendly Feminine Hygiene, 2009
• Inbound #2: "UnWendy", Boston Comics Roundtable, 2008
• Geraniums and Bacon #5, 2008
• Friends of Lulu Presents: The Girls' Guide to Guys' Stuff: "Who Loves Neckties?", Friends of Lulu, 2007
• Geraniums and Bacon #4, 2007
• I Survived GWAR, 2005
• Geraniums and Bacon #3, 2005
• Geraniums and Bacon #2, 2004
• Geraniums and Bacon #1, 2002

Talks and workshops

• "The HEAL Symposium: Health Education through Arts and Literature" (presenter and workshop co-facilitator), University of New Hampshire, NH, USA, 2017
• "Comics and Medicine" (panelist), Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo, Cambridge, MA, USA, 2017
• "Comics and Health: Saving Lives and Preventing Disease" (panelist), Comics Arts Conference/San Diego Comic-Con, San Diego, CA, USA, 2016
• "Suzie & Ray: A Comic for Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Considering Insulin Therapy", Graphic Medicine, Dundee, Scotland, 2016
• "Teaching STEM with Comics" (panelist), New York Comic-Con, New York, NY, USA, 2015
• "Learning to Doodle: Science, Coloring Books for Grownups, and Comics", She Geeks Out, Boston, MA, USA, 2015
• "Comics and Healthcare, Together!", Mensa Annual Gathering, Boston, MA, USA, 2014
• "Teaching with Comics" (presenter and panelist), Comics in the Classroom Symposium, Lesley University, Cambridge, MA, 2014
• "Using Webcomics to Debunk Insulin Therapy Myths", Comics & Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA, 2014
• "Comics and Medicine" (presenter and panel moderator), Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo, Cambridge, MA, USA, 2012
• "Comics and Healthcare", Nerd Nite Boston, Boston, MA, USA, 2013
• "Comics and Healthcare", Health and Science Communications Association, Providence, RI, USA, 2012
• "Diabetes and erectile dysfunction: A case study of humor comics as a method of patient education", Comics & Medicine, Toronto, Canada, 2012