The Medical Humanities Student Ambassador program responds to the increasing student interest in courses, events, and research opportunities related to medical humanities. This year, Meghna Yennu and Alicia Chan are serving as the Ambassadors and are representing the Medical Humanities Program and sharing opportunities with other undergraduates. Previous Ambassador Molly Kyles created the designs for the Medical Humanities stickers distributed at various events throughout the year.
Meghna Yennu
Brown '25
Major: English; Biosciences
Minor: Medical Humanities
Medical Humanities, as a discipline that sits at the intersection of Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and Humanities, has always fit Meghna perfectly, as she is someone who doesn't want to limit themselves to only one school of thought. The capacity for fluidity between disciplines encourages Meghna to explore the speculative possibilities of reimagining how we think about narratives surrounding health, healthcare, and society. It creates space to think about how societal disparities and erasures are reproduced in dominant healthcare models in our current world. Interested in exploring how creative writing and filmmaking can be used as modes of criticism and communication, Meghna is currently working on an independent research project as part of the Moody Undergraduate Research Fellowship in the Humanities, to examine the intersection of student life and disability at the university campus. She is also working on organizing the second edition of INCENSE zine, a student-led speculative fiction magazine. After graduation, Meghna plans on pursuing either a graduate or medical degree. Meghna has served as the 2023-2024 Medical Humanities Internal Vice President, and is excited to serve as President this year, encouraging students to explore events and courses in the Medical Humanities--there's always a niche for everyone, no matter what they are interested in!
Alicia Chan
Hansen '26
Major: Biosciences
Minor: Medical Humanities
Alicia has always believed that the key to truly improving the medical field is not just an advance in technical knowledge, but an advance in the humanities side of medicine. The intersection of topics such as history, sociology, ethics, and the arts are critical in understanding the scope of medicine. Furthermore, understanding communities and how they have been impacted by medicine is fundamental in moving forward with more equitable and personalized care. As Alicia has explored the Medical Humanities program at Rice, she has become particularly interested in gender and racial inequalities in medicine, medical histories of different countries, and the ethical debates that permanently surround the field. She is also passionate about sharing narratives in medicine, and has pursued this through her work as the Medical Humanities Journal Committee’s Editor-in-Chief. In addition to this position, she is also excited to serve as the club’s 2024-2025 External Vice President. She is honored to be an Ambassador for the Medical Humanities program, and hopes to spark interest in classes, research, and the club to the Rice student body through this role.