Full Name
Matthew Zachary
Job Title
CEO and Co-Founder
Company
We The Patients
Speaker Bio
Matthew Zachary is healthcare's most unconventional thought leader. A classically trained concert pianist and film composer who survived brain cancer at 21 and transformed patient advocacy into a cultural movement.
In 2007, he founded Stupid Cancer, revolutionizing how young adults navigate cancer by replacing pamphlets with community and silence with swagger. The organization reached millions globally, earning him international recognition as the definitive voice for his generation's experience surviving healthcare.
That same year, Matthew pioneered podcasting with The Stupid Cancer Show, later evolving it into Out of Patients. Now the longest-running independent healthcare podcast with 1200+ episodes and millions of downloads.
His interviewing style brings guests from every corner of healthcare and culture. Fortune 500 leaders, luminary physicians and scientists from the NCI and the CDC, reporters from media platforms, well-known celebrities, authors, investors, founders, and the patients and caregivers who live the consequences. People Magazine called him the "People's voice in healthcare".
His documentary The Cancer Mavericks premiered to critical acclaim, chronicling the rebel patients who forced modern medicine to evolve. His upcoming book, We the Patients: How to Understand, Navigate, and Survive America's Healthcare Nightmare (Wiley, 2026), promises to be the definitive patient playbook for systemic change.
Through Matthew Zachary Worldwide, he consults with leading healthcare organizations, pharma companies, and tech startups. He helps them understand the difference between what patients say in focus groups and what they actually need to survive. His keynotes blend dark humor with data, personal narrative with policy insight.
Journalists quote him when they need someone to explain why healthcare hurts. After 30 years in the trenches, Matthew remains healthcare's most trusted translator. Fluent in both patient pain and C-suite strategy.
Part survivor, part strategist, full disruptor. Still making noise, just on a different stage.
In 2007, he founded Stupid Cancer, revolutionizing how young adults navigate cancer by replacing pamphlets with community and silence with swagger. The organization reached millions globally, earning him international recognition as the definitive voice for his generation's experience surviving healthcare.
That same year, Matthew pioneered podcasting with The Stupid Cancer Show, later evolving it into Out of Patients. Now the longest-running independent healthcare podcast with 1200+ episodes and millions of downloads.
His interviewing style brings guests from every corner of healthcare and culture. Fortune 500 leaders, luminary physicians and scientists from the NCI and the CDC, reporters from media platforms, well-known celebrities, authors, investors, founders, and the patients and caregivers who live the consequences. People Magazine called him the "People's voice in healthcare".
His documentary The Cancer Mavericks premiered to critical acclaim, chronicling the rebel patients who forced modern medicine to evolve. His upcoming book, We the Patients: How to Understand, Navigate, and Survive America's Healthcare Nightmare (Wiley, 2026), promises to be the definitive patient playbook for systemic change.
Through Matthew Zachary Worldwide, he consults with leading healthcare organizations, pharma companies, and tech startups. He helps them understand the difference between what patients say in focus groups and what they actually need to survive. His keynotes blend dark humor with data, personal narrative with policy insight.
Journalists quote him when they need someone to explain why healthcare hurts. After 30 years in the trenches, Matthew remains healthcare's most trusted translator. Fluent in both patient pain and C-suite strategy.
Part survivor, part strategist, full disruptor. Still making noise, just on a different stage.
Speaking At
