Cody Unser, Board Member
After becoming paralyzed at 12 years old due to the autoimmune disorder called, Transverse Myelitis,
Cody Unser along with her mother Shelley, founded The Cody Unser First Step Foundation to raise
awareness, encourage medical collaboration and improve the quality of life for those afflicted with
Transverse Myelitis and other auto-immune related disorders.
Through her foundation, she established Cody’s Great Scuba Adventure, which uses scuba diving as a
therapeutic and psychological tool for people living with disabilities. The documentary “Sea of Change”
explored the neurological and physiological effects of scuba on a group of chosen paralyzed Veterans.
Due to her work with adaptive scuba diving, she was inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame,
making her the first woman with a disability to be recognized with such an honor. She is a PADI
AmbassaDiver and a certified Christopher Reeve Peer Mentor. She is a research consultant for MedStar
Health, writing fact sheets related to paralysis issues as well as being a part of a Podcast Series. Cody is
also a committee member on the Primary Care Committee of the American Spinal Injury Association
(ASIA), aiming at educating primary care physicians on how to treat individuals with spinal cord injury.
Currently 38 years old, Cody has become a leading advocate for people living with disabilities and spends
much of her time traveling across the country to deliver keynote speeches, attend medical symposia and
help other grassroots organizations that have similar missions. She received her undergraduate degree at
the University of Redlands in California where she created her own degree called “Biopolitics: The
Interconnection Between Biology and Political Action in Human Health”. She received her Masters in
Public Health with an emphasis in Health Policy at the George Washington University in Washington,
DC. She currently writes as a patient advocate for US News and World Report about everything she
experiences relating to having a disability and navigating the world. She is passionate about the health
care of women with disabilities and presents the issues they face at numerous University’s OBGYN
Grand Rounds. Cody hopes to keep making an impact for people with disabilities.
Cody was born and raised in Albuquerque, NM and is currently a graduate student at The University of
New Mexico pursuing a PhD in Medical Sociology with the goal to develop, deliver and teach disability
curriculum for medical schools across the country.
