Francesca Nicosia will receive her MA in Medical and Biological Anthropology from the University of Colorado, Denver, in May 2010. Her research has focused on voluntary refusal of food and fluids in hospice and palliative care. She is currently a co-investigator on a study at the UC Health Science Center which uses the film Dying Wish. This summer she will teach on Cultural Diversity in Health and Illness for Metro State College of Denver. In the fall, she will begin doctoral studies in Medical Anthropology to study access to opiate analgesics in East Africa. Nicosia serves on the Board of Directors for Natural Transitions, a non-profit organization that educates and supports families to conduct home funerals.