Irène Mathieu

Irène P. Mathieu, MD MPH (she/her/hers) is a healer and artist – an academic pediatrician, writer, educator, and public health researcher. She is the award-winning author of four poetry collections – milk tongue (Deep Vellum Press, 2023), Grand Marronage (Switchback Books, 2019), orogeny (Trembling Pillow Press, 2017), and the galaxy of origins (dancing girl press, 2014).

Irène is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Virginia, where she practices outpatient pediatrics, runs community-engaged research and advocacy projects, and serves as Assistant Director of the Program in Health Humanities. She leads youth poetry workshops, teaches courses in literature and medicine at the undergraduate and medical student levels, and gives lectures around the country on using literature as a tool for health equity education.