Mary Kelso Bryson

Mary Kelso Bryson fell in love with medical illustration in her high school biology class. She attended Washington University in St. Louis and took biology courses ranging from embryology to botany, as well as design and illustration courses. Mary continued studying medical illustration at the University of Illinois at Chicago for a master's degree in fine arts, acquiring a thorough background in anatomy, anatomical rendering, and 3-D computer rendering and animation. While a graduate student, she worked as a research assistant for EyeWatch, a program that computer-aged the faces of missing children for the FBI.

With this background, Mary is an excellent match for the role of chief medical illustrator for Breastcancer.org. "I feel good that I know my illustrations are helping women get through a tough time in their lives," notes Mary. "I think that explaining complicated information in order to empower women is a good purpose for an illustrator."

Mary received a Vesalius Trust Scholarship from the Association of Medical Illustrators for her master's thesis, "Hysterical Histology," an interactive computer game that she developed and programmed. She has been a freelance medical illustrator for ten years, and manages two above-average children, one good-looking husband, and a spectacular garden.