A former healthcare provider, Manuel Marquez holds an MD from UCLA Medical School. Now working in the travel and tourism industry, Manuel Marquez, MD, also serves as the treasurer and a board member of the International Forum for Psychoanalytic Education (IFPE)

The 29th Annual Interdisciplinary Conference of the IFPE took place October 25-27, 2018, at the Mayflower Park Hotel in Seattle, Washington. With the theme of “Unsilencing,” the Conference explored “the vicissitudes of expressing ourselves” with a specific focus on the gaps in language and the power of silence – although people may find such silences socially uncomfortable, silence may allow individuals the space they need to think and reencounter speech.

Under the direction of conference chair Rachel Newcombe, the 29th Annual Interdisciplinary Conference sponsored a range of presentations and panels. Topics included race, art, illness, family, feminism, and LGBTQ issues.