About the speaker: Born in the late Soviet Union, in Moldova, in the infamous year known for its association with the Big Brother theory—1984—Alina was lucky enough to be born to an artist father and an artistic mother. She was bred into art with endless encouragement to live in her element and chase her dreams.

In 1990, when the Soviet Union was falling apart, they escaped to Israel, and the first crack in her story was created. A new world opened up, a new life—a life of an immigrant in a conflict-ridden country. This all fueled her imagination and the introspective nature of an artist.

Alina went on to study Visual Communication and Illustration at Shenkar College of Design in Israel and earned her Master’s degree in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts in New York. These days—one year after the debut of her first graphic novel, and with close to 30 illustrated children’s books under her belt—she’s making more comics, drawing every day, and teaching Illustration and Comics at her former college.

About the moderator: Dr. Ryan Montoya is a board-certified Family Medicine physician. He graduated from Harvard University and completed graduate courses at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Johns Hopkins University before attending the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Dr. Montoya provided primary care and opioid addiction treatment in Massachusetts. He has lived and provided healthcare in the countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina and India and acted as the Associate Medical Director of Planned Parenthood in Washington, DC. He currently serves as the Physician Medical Officer for the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia.

Outside of medicine, Dr. Montoya is a professional comic book artist and writer whose works have appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine and Scientific American. He received art training from the Massachusetts College of Art, Art Institute of Boston, School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the Joe Kubert School of Comic Book Art. Dr. Montoya is a contributing fellow to the Harvard School of Public Health and has lectured in the US, Ireland, and Italy. He consults as a luggage designer for the brand Goyard, and as project manager for the CIFF Raven Fashion Fair Copenhagen and the Devambez Panorama fashion collective in Paris.

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