What is the future of health care?
Can technology truly bridge the gaps in racial health equity?
How do we ensure data-driven innovations benefit all communities, particularly those historically marginalized?
These are the kinds of questions that the Medical Humanities Research Institute (MHRI) at Rice University aims to answer through the Sawyer Seminar on the Comparative Study of Cultures, “Reimagining Technologies of Care: Racial Health Equity and Data Justice.” Supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the yearlong seminar will explore the intersection of technology, race and health through a humanities lens.
Health care today is a rapidly evolving field with innovations like artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics promising to revolutionize patient care. However, these advancements come with their own set of challenges, particularly regarding equity.
“There is a real need for developers of AI and data-driven tools to be interacting with humanities-trained researchers at the very beginning of the design process,” said Kirsten Ostherr, the Gladys Louise Fox Professor of English and director of MHRI and Rice’s medical humanities program, adding that the integration is crucial to anticipating and mitigating potential risks rather than reacting to problems only after they arise.
The relevance of medical humanities is becoming increasingly clear. At its core, medical humanities is an interdisciplinary field that brings together humanists, artists, social scientists and health care professionals to address complex challenges that cannot be solved by science and technology alone. The goal is to ensure that patients are seen as people, not just as data points or diagnoses, and that health care is delivered equitably and inclusively. This approach is particularly critical in an era when technological advancements can often overshadow the human elements of care.
The MHRI is at the forefront of this movement, leveraging its networks to create multitiered translational research clusters. These clusters focus on arts-based approaches to care, health data and technology justice, the construction and representation of patient narratives and bioethics. By bringing together diverse perspectives, the institute seeks to develop new models for health care that place equity, ethics and patient experiences at the center of medical innovation.
“The arts are great at provoking and connecting people, often through our emotional or sensory responses to creative works,” Ostherr said when asked about art’s role in the medical humanities. “That kind of connection is key to uncovering what really matters to diverse communities, and it can allow for different lived experiences to be conveyed in a way that resonates culturally. Emotional connection is central to building trust, and when you’re trying to address health inequities, there is a huge trust barrier to overcome considering how many communities have been harmed by careless or exploitative health technologies in the past. That damage continues to be felt in the present.”
By collaborating with artists and creatives, Ostherr said health technology developers can better understand and address the needs of diverse communities, ultimately fostering greater trust in new technologies.
“We propose a model that is more in line with the idea of anticipating unintended consequences by partnering with experts who know how to think about these questions through historical, cultural and ethical frameworks,” Ostherr said, noting that a proactive approach could lead to the development of technologies that are not only innovative but also equitable and just.
One of the projects undertaken by the MHRI is the Sawyer Seminar. This seminar series will examine the current state of health care through multiple disciplinary lenses, asking how we might learn from the past to create better futures. In addition to the Mellon Foundation, additional support for the seminar comes from the Rice Building Research on Inequality and Diversity to Grow Equity program, Rice Scientia Small Conference Fund, the Baylor College of Medicine’s Office of Community Engagement and Health Equity, the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center’s Office of Community Outreach and Engagement and UTHealth Houston McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics.
The seminar’s activities for the 2024-25 academic year begin with a Sept. 12 visit from Grace Wickerson, the health equity policy manager at the Federation of American Scientists, who will present a lecture titled “Changing the System: A Policy Agenda to Achieve Health Equity in Medical Innovation.” Along with the speaker series, the seminar will include reading group discussions, workshops with health care providers and patients and a public symposium — events designed to foster academic discourse and generate real-world solutions to the pressing challenges of racial health inequity and data justice.
“We are committed to making a positive impact on our community,” Ostherr said.
Learn more about the Sawyer Seminar here.