Rebecca Richards-Kortum was born on April 14,1964 and is an American bioengineer and the Malcolm Gillis University Professor at Rice University.
15 Facts About Rebecca Richards-Kortum
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Rebecca Richards-Kortum is the Director of the Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering, and serves as the advisor to the Provost on health-related research.
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Rebecca Richards-Kortum enjoyed math and science in elementary school and attended University of Nebraska-Lincoln after high school.
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Rebecca Richards-Kortum's trajectory changed after graduating with highest distinction in physics and mathematics, when she considered PhD programs after being exposed to undergraduate research.
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Rebecca Richards-Kortum attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received a master's degree in physics in 1987 and a doctorate in medical physics in 1990.
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Rebecca Richards-Kortum began her academic career at The University of Texas at Austin in the electrical and computer engineering department, where she rose through the ranks from assistant, to associate, to full professor.
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Rebecca Richards-Kortum then joined the faculty of bioengineering at Rice University, earning the rank of University Professor, which means she can teach in any academic department and across disciplines.
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Rebecca Richards-Kortum specializes in creating new technologies to provide health care to vulnerable populations, including methods for diagnosis of cancers, methods for treating jaundice in newborns, and a bubble continuous positive airway pressure machine for premature infants unable to breathe on their own.
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Rebecca Richards-Kortum is the author of the textbook Biomedical Engineering for Global Health and the author or co-author of over 315 research papers, 13 book chapters, and 40 patents.
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In 2018, Rebecca Richards-Kortum was selected as one of five US scientists to serve in the US Department of State as a US Science Envoy for Health Security.
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Rebecca Richards-Kortum is the 2017 finalist of the MacArthur Foundation grant where she received millions of dollars for her team to develop and implement their neonatal technology that is estimated to prevent over 85 percent of newborn deaths in Africa.
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In recognition of her work, Rebecca Richards-Kortum received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2016.
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Rebecca Richards-Kortum was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2008 and the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2015.
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Rebecca Richards-Kortum was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2017.
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Rebecca Richards-Kortum was listed on Fortune magazine's list of 50 World's Greatest Leaders.