“Reimagining Technologies of Care:
Racial Health Equity and Data Justice”

Sawyer Seminar Research Symposium

SAWYER SEMINAR RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

Thursday, March 6, 2025

Join us for an all-day research symposium as part of the Sawyer Seminar, "Reimagining Technologies of Care: Racial Health Equity and Data Justice." The yearlong seminar series aims to intervene in the perpetuation of inequitable healthcare by bringing key insights and methodologies of the humanities into the analysis, creation, and use of healthcare technologies and the collection and use of health data from these technologies. The symposium will be a series of panels with scholars presenting their research in a wide range of disciplines, with several journalists moderating and providing commentary. There will also be a poster session featuring medical humanities student research at Rice and the Texas Medical Center.

Symposium Organizers
Kirsten Ostherr, PhD, MPH, Medical Humanities Research Institute, Rice University
Katherine Shwetz, PhD, Medical Humanities Research Institute, Rice University
Samin Rashidbeigi, PhD, Medical Humanities Research Institute, Rice University

Guest Speakers
Torie Bosch, STAT Health Tech
Rayvon Fouché, PhD, Northwestern University
Kim Gallon, PhD, Brown University
Arbel Griner, PhD, Princeton University
Vivian Lam, The Conversation
Shobita Parthasarathy, PhD, University of Michigan
Rayne Rouce, MD, Baylor College of Medicine
Liz Salmi, Open Notes
Jaipreet Virdi, PhD, University of Delaware
Darshali Vyas, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital

Advisory Board
Sabia Abidi, PhD, Bioengineering, Rice University
Melissa Bailar, PhD, Medical Humanities Research Institute, Rice University
Anthony Brandt, PhD, Shepherd School of Music, Rice University
Paul Checchia, MD, Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children's Hospital
Luis Campos, PhD, History, Rice University​​​​​​​
Elizabeth Petrick, PhD, History, Rice University​​​​​​​
Sam Reis-Dennis, PhD, Philosophy/Medical Humanities, Rice University​​​​​​​
Sindhu Thirumalaisamy, PhD, Art, Rice University​​​​​​​
Matthew Wettergreen, PhD, Bioengineering, Rice University


Image: Computer specialist John Smith arranges and examines cannisters of magnetic tape used in the processing of medical data at the National Library of Medicine (c. 1960). Source: https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-101648151-img