Hospice in Prison

Registration closes May 11 at Noon CT.

Lisa Deal, RN, MPH, ScD

Lisa Deal is senior advisor to the Humane Prison Hospice Project. As a community health nurse caring for AIDS patients in Boston during the late 1980s, Lisa discovered her passion for being with the dying. Following that profound experience, Lisa’s life took her down a variety of paths as a clinician, research associate, policy analyst/editor, and grants officer. She earned master’s degrees in public health and nursing from the University of Washington and a doctorate in public health from Harvard University. She spent several years working on child and family policy issues with the David and Lucile Packard Foundation in Silicon Valley before stepping away to raise her three children and engage in community volunteer work. After the tragic deaths of her younger brother, her dear friend and pastor, and her father — all within a three-year span — Lisa felt called to return to caring for the dying.

In 2010, Lisa joined Mission Hospice & Home Care as a hospice and palliative care nurse, and worked in clinical and leadership roles for the next nine years, directing the Palliative Care Program and the Community Outreach Program, and serving as Chief Clinical Officer and finally Chief Executive Officer until 2019. It was during this time that Lisa became involved with Humane Prison Hospice Project. Under her leadership, Mission Hospice became the clinical sponsor for Humane’s work to train the Brothers’ Keepers prisoners at San Quentin State Prison to be compassionate end-of-life caregivers. Visiting with the men at San Quentin was another life-changing experience for Lisa, and today she feels honored to be able to combine her passions for working with the dying and serving those behind bars through the Humane Prison Hospice Project. Lisa served as Humane’s Executive Director for five years, leading the organization’s growth in multiple states. As senior advisor, she focuses on program development, administration, and community-building efforts. Lisa is an experienced hospice and palliative care nurse with a background in community health and public health policy.

In addition to her work with Humane, Lisa serves on the Board of Directors for GAIA Global Health and Peninsula Volunteers, Inc., and she is a lay chaplain for the Santa Clara County jails.

Michele DiTomas, MD, MS

Michele DiTomas is Assistant Deputy Medical Executive for Palliative and Complex Care and CMF Hospice Medical Director with California Correctional Health Care Services. She earned her MD from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and is board-certified in both family medicine and hospice and palliative medicine. Dr. DiTomas has spent over 10 years working for prison reform from the inside by advocating for positive changes from both custody and medical staff as well as through collaboration with outside organizations. She has worked as a consultant through the UCSF Criminal Justice and Aging Project to assist in training clinical and custody staff on the special needs of the geriatric prisoner and the provision of compassionate end-of-life care at Riker’s Island Jail in New York City, as well as the New York Department of Corrections and the Corrections Division of the Hawaii Department of Public Safety.

Laura Musselman, MFA

Laura Musselman is Executive Director of the Humane Hospice Prison Project. She is an end-of-life doula, writer, and former college instructor. With a background in philosophy, education, and trauma support, she brings both critical inquiry and practical grounding to her leadership. As the Executive Director of the Humane Prison Hospice Project, Laura focuses on strengthening community-based responses to serious illness and aging within correctional settings: models shaped by the people most impacted by incarceration. She works alongside incarcerated peer caregivers, correctional health teams, and local partners to build practical, relationship-centered pathways that expand dignity and accountability inside complex systems. Her leadership is grounded in the belief that care is not optional infrastructure, but a collective, societal responsibility.