From Individual to Community
Bioengineering grad students visit the Rio Grande Valley to learn about local health care challenges and assets.
Spring 2025
By Alex Becker
Photos and video by Brandon Martin
Rice bioengineering graduate students in the Global Medical Innovation program recently visited the Rio Grande Valley to better understand the unique challenges faced by communities in the region.
This field trip experience highlighted the importance of addressing complex social factors when tackling health care issues. During the trip, the students encountered several pressing issues in the Valley, including food insecurity, high rates of obesity and diabetes, and less engagement in preventative care. They also gained valuable insight into public health initiatives already underway, such as farmer’s markets, efforts to create walkable neighborhoods, and even yoga classes.
“There are a lot of social issues here you probably would not see elsewhere,” says Dr. Fatimah Bello, an internal medicine physician at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. “We have people that cross the border, we have people without insurance, we have people who have not seen a physician in 50 or 60 years. … We do our best. We do what we can.”
At the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley campus, adjacent to the Mexican border, Rice students walked the grounds and learned about the intersection of health and culture. The group also met with a local nutritionist, shared a meal with community members at Brownsville Wellness Coalition’s community garden, and participated in discussions about art, politics and health. The experience emphasized the need for health care innovations that are not only practical but also tailored for the communities they aim to serve.
“There’s a difference between making something that works and making something that actually serves others,” says bioengineering graduate student Olisaneme Okonkwo. “And I want to make sure I can make something that’s impactful.”
Led by Casey Howard, program manager for industry relations for Rice’s Global Medical Innovation program, this experience is designed to help students form an understanding that cutting-edge technologies alone are not always the solution and that effective interventions often need to look upstream, addressing social determinants of health such as food access, education and safe environments.
“When they go back to Rice, they’re going to bring the local needs they discovered and work to develop health care innovations,” says Matthew Wettergreen, director of the Global Medical Innovation program.
“This is the reason why I’m doing the research that I’m doing — to serve communities that need it the most,” says bioengineering graduate student Gabby Lea.
This field trip was made possible by funding from the UTHealth Houston Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences and Rice’s Center for Innovation and Translation of Point of Care Technologies for Expanded Cancer Care Access, and a partnership with the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and the Brownsville Wellness Coalition.
Fatimah Bello is assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine. Matthew Wettergreen is associate teaching professor in the Department of Bioengineering and at the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen and director of the Global Medical Innovation program in Rice’s George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing.