Full Name
Isa Yuriko Stenzel Byrnes, LCSW, MPH
Connection to CF
Person with CF
Bio

Isabel Yuriko Stenzel Byrnes is a bereavement social worker at Mission Hospice, where she counsels and leads expressive writing groups and other support groups for those who are grieving. She has lived with cystic fibrosis for 48 years and received a double lung transplant sixteen years ago. Isabel has been an active leader in various CF and organ transplant organizations for three decades. Isabel and her late twin, Ana, published the memoir, "The Power of Two: A Twin Triumph Over Cystic Fibrosis," and served as international patient advocates in her mother's country, Japan, which led to the creation of a documentary film of the same title. Isabel has lectured around the country on topics such as mental health, resiliency, grief and loss, psychosocial aspects of illness, end-of-life issues and organ donation, including a TEDx Stanford talk in 2014. Isabel plays the bagpipes to celebrate her lung donor and competes in the Transplant Games to stay healthy. She lives in Redwood City, Calif., and is married to Andrew Byrnes.

Isa Yuriko Stenzel Byrnes, LCSW, MPH