Sawyer Seminar Research Symposium
Thursday, March 6, 2025
Baker Institute Auditorium
Rice University
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 Speakers
Sabia Abidi, PhD, Rice University
Anna Maria Barry-Jester, ProPublica
Torie Bosch, STAT First Opinion
Hugo Campos, Patient Advocate
Rayvon Fouché, PhD, Northwestern University
Kim Gallon, PhD, Brown University
Arbel Griner, PhD, Princeton University
Vivian Lam, The Conversation
Kirsten Ostherr, PhD, MPH, Rice University
Shobita Parthasarathy, PhD, University of Michigan
Elizabeth Petrick, PhD, Rice University
Rayne H. Rouce, MD, Baylor College of Medicine
Liz Salmi, Patient Advocate, OpenNotes
Jaipreet Virdi, PhD, University of Delaware
Darshali Vyas, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital
Matthew Wettergreen, PhD, Rice University
Symposium Organizers
Kirsten Ostherr, PhD, MPH, Medical Humanities Research Institute, Rice University
Melissa Bailar, PhD, Medical Humanities Research Institute, Rice University
Katherine Shwetz, PhD, Medical Humanities Research Institute, Rice University
Samin Rashidbeigi, PhD, Medical Humanities Research Institute, Rice University
Advisory Board
Sabia Abidi, PhD, Bioengineering, 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
The Sawyer Seminar is sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional support comes from the Rice Building Research on Inequality and Diversity to Grow Equity (BRIDGE) Program, Rice Scientia Small Conference Fund, the Baylor College of Medicine Office of Community Engagement and Health Equity, the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center Office of Community Outreach and Engagement, and the UTHealth Houston McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics.
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