Tag: DEI

CHEPS attends 2024 Juneteenth Celebration

Posted on by buckh

On Wednesday, June 19th, students and staff at CHEPS attended the U-M Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department’s fifth annual Juneteenth Celebration. Undergraduate pre-med student Goretti Tran reflects on the experience below.

Yesterday, alongside the rest of my peers at CHEPS, I attended the Juneteenth Celebration hosted by the U-M’s Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department. This year’s theme was Celebrating Excellence in People-First Engineering and Computing, and the program schedule included a live performance of the Black National Anthem, an abridged reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, as well keynote presentations from Professor Shawn Blanton, PhD, MS (Carnegie Mellon University) and Professor James Mickens, PhD (Harvard School of Engineering & Applied Sciences). Continue Reading »

Be the match: Kira Woodhouse’s journey to bone marrow donation

Posted on by buckh

In celebration of National Donate Life Month, Industrial and Operations Engineering master’s student Kira Woodhouse shares about the process of becoming a living organ donor.

I was freshly eighteen when the world began to shut down in the early months of 2020. In the midst of being unceremoniously displaced from my school, work, and community I found dear, I sought ways I could help the world outside of my quarantined walls. As an adult, I was newly eligible to sign up to offer myself as a bone marrow donor with the National Marrow Donor Program (formerly Be the Match). I filled out the contact forms, sent in a home saliva sample, and continued on with my life as this decision faded into the background. Continue Reading »

Student reflections on U-M’s 2024 Disability Visibility Symposium

Posted on by buckh
CHEPS students seated at a large blue table while attending the 2024 Disability Visibility Symposium.

On Friday, March 22, five CHEPS students attended the 2024 Disability Visibility Symposium put on by U-M Mechanical Engineering and U-M Computer Science and Engineering. There, lightning talks from Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, CAEN, and Robotics representatives addressed the topic of disability and accessibility within engineering education.

Content at the Disability Visibility Symposium closely aligned with CHEPS’s mission to utilize engineering to improve healthcare, a societal pillar essential for all—especially those with disabilities. Symposium speakers shared the work that U-M has been doing to create a more accessible campus through a new “Quiet Room” in the Bob and Betty Beyster Building, modified shop equipment in Mechanical Engineering classes, and increased awareness around the prevalence of ableism. Continue Reading »

CHEPS student attends LGBTQ+ Health Research Network kickoff

Posted on by gabeferr

What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than by networking cross-functionally to support LGBTQ+ health research at the University of Michigan?

Wednesday morning, the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation (IHPI) gathered professionals from Nursing, Michigan Medicine, Public Health, OB/GYN, graduate students, and undergrads to form crucial connections to further the impact of LGBTQ+ health studies at the University.

It was such a privilege to be in the same room as all of these leaders in medicine research and health disparity studies. The passion for the right to health of gender-diverse and queer communities was so palpable that I couldn’t help but be inspired by the conversations going on around me. Continue Reading »

CHEPS Fall 2023 Seminar Series: Karthik Ramani

Posted on by buckh

On Monday, October 23rd, Karthik Ramani, MD joined CHEPS in discussion at the Providing Better Healthcare through Systems Engineering seminar series. Alongside his work as the Medical Director of Interventional Nephrology and Vascular Access Services at Michigan Medicine, Ramani is pursuing his MBA at U-M’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business and holds particular interest in pursuing greater equity and diversity in clinical trials.

He began with some facts:

  • While minority populations make up 39% of the U.S., they make up only 25% of clinical study participants.
  • While 40% of White clinical trial candidates ultimately enroll in studies, that number drops to 23% for Black clinical trial candidates.
Continue Reading »