Rebecca Richards-Kortum

Guided by the belief that all of the world’s people deserve access to health innovation, Professor Rebecca Richards-Kortum’s research and teaching focus on developing low-cost, high-performance technology for low-resource settings. Rebecca is the Malcolm Gillis University Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at Rice University. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Inventors, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She joined Rice University in 2005 and served two terms as Chair of Bioengineering. Previously, she held the Cockrell Family Chair in Engineering #10 and was a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Texas, where she was also a Distinguished Teaching Professor. She received a B.S. in Physics and Mathematics from the University of Nebraska in 1985, and an MS in Physics in 1987 and a PhD in Medical Physics in 1990 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Richards-Kortum’s group is developing miniature imaging systems to improve early detection of oral, esophageal, and cervical cancer and their precursors. She led development of a novel high resolution microendoscope capable of real-time, subcellular imaging. Together with colleagues at Baylor and the MD Anderson Cancer Center, she carried out clinical trials involving >1,000 patients. In a prospective clinical trial in the US and China, high resolution microendoscopy improved specificity for esophageal precancer from 29% to 79%, without reducing sensitivity. Clinical trials of >15,000 patients in China, Brazil, and El Salvador are underway. Her group has integrated advances in nanotechnology and microfabrication to develop low-cost sensors for infectious diseases at the point-of-care. A low-cost sensor to detect hemoglobin concentration; the device reduced per test cost by >100-fold. She led development of nucleic acid tests to enable diagnosis of HIV in infants in low-resource settings, introducing the first integrated paper and plastic device to enable isothermal amplification of HIV DNA. Together with Maria Oden, Dr. Richards-Kortum led development and dissemination of an affordable bubble CPAP device to treat premature infants with respiratory distress syndrome. Initial clinical evaluation showed that the device improved survival from 24% to 65%. In 2014, CPAP was recognized by the UN as one of 10 innovations that can save the lives of women and children now. The team is developing a comprehensive bundle of technologies for intensive newborn care at district hospitals in Africa, with the goal to deliver the bundle for <$1.50 per birth. Dr. Richards-Kortum founded the Beyond Traditional Borders (BTB) program in which undergraduate students from multiple backgrounds learn to think beyond geographic and disciplinary boundaries to solve challenges in global health. In 2012, Science awarded BTB the Prize for Inquiry Based Instruction and the National Academy of Engineering recognized BTB with the Real-World Education Prize.