Hey everyone! Welcome to my blog ~ I’m happy that you’re here!

My name is Zoe, and I’m a rising senior from McMurtry College majoring in Bioscience (Cell Biology & Genetics) and minoring in Global Health Technologies. As an aspiring physician, I was first drawn to the Introductory Global Health class as an avenue to learn more about global health disparities, initiatives addressing these issues, and hear from experts around the world. A year after taking this class and eager to explore the intersection of engineering and medicine further, I had the opportunity to work on a senior design team to address challenges in the consistency of scar massaging and the time commitment burden on caregivers, especially since burn injuries disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries.

Working on a team of diverse individuals and collaborating with local experts under the guidance of our physician mentors, Dr. Hannia Pacheco Gutiérrez and Ms. Evelyn Brenes from Costa Rica, we created ScarStretch, a low-cost, automated scar massage device for pediatric patients with burn scars. I learned new technical skills and how to implement design choices catered to local culture and influences, which certainly expanded my horizons! This project fueled my passion for addressing health disparities through medical innovation, and I’m so grateful to be learning more as a Rice360 Summer Intern in the Dominican Republic.

Ansh, Anathea, and I are working alongside the Dominican Foundation for Mothers & Infants, with a mission of providing the best possible care for mothers and infants. This summer, under the mentorship of Dr. Angelica Floren, we will be observing hospitals’ current fetal heart monitoring systems and equipment, assessing the Pumani utilization and functional status, evaluating the standard of care in maternity waiting rooms, and documenting any needs we find. I hope our interviews, observations, and literature review will help decrease neonatal mortality and improve a mother’s experience within the hospital!

We will also have the opportunity to interview and receive feedback from doctors and nurses in a burn unit on ScarStretch—I’m excited to hear their perspectives on the current prototype. Furthermore, we are working on No Mo’ Silo, a low-cost silo bag to treat babies suffering from the birth defect gastroschisis, and will have the opportunity to discuss our ideas with doctors. In all these projects and observations, I’m looking forward to meeting new individuals and collaborating with them to reach our common goal!

While my time in the Dominican Republic is mainly focused on prototyping, interviewing, and needs assessment, I also want to use this unique opportunity to immerse myself in a new, unfamiliar environment rich with culture. Whether it’s learning Spanish, asking questions, making new connections, or trying new foods or activities I can’t experience back at home, it will truly be a summer to explore outside my comfort zone, and I’m ready to embrace it all :))

~ Zoe