Bio

Ph.D. Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison M.S. University of Wisconsin-Madison B.S. University of Wisconsin-Madison

"I focus on systematically understanding and supporting health management at home through technological and non-technological interventions that is deeply responsive to patients’ lived experiences. Much of this work focuses on marginalized populations, including racial/ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and people living in under-resourced settings. "

Rupa S. Valdez

My research focuses on understanding and designing solutions to support the ways in which people manage health at home and in the community. I draw on methods from multiple disciplines including human factors engineering, cultural anthropology, and health informatics, among others. This work encompasses participatory and co-design approaches and attends to the ways in which social networks, physical environment, community resources, and information technology shape patient experiences. I am particularly interested in how health is managed among marginalized populations, including racial/ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and people living in under-resourced settings. A complementary research interest is in methodological development for research and teaching in this space. I have testified before Congress on the topic of bridging health equity gaps for people with disabilities and chronic conditions. My editorial appointments include serving as Associate Editor for Ergonomics, the Journal of American Medical Informatics Association Open, and Human Factors in Healthcare. Among other appointments, I serve on the Board of Directors for the American Association of People with Disabilities and for the American Health Information Management Association Foundation. I also serve on PCORI's Patient Engagement Advisory Panel and the National Committee for Quality Assurance's Health Equity Expert Work Group. I am also the Founder and President of the Blue Trunk Foundation.

Awards

  • American Medical Informatics Association Samantha Adams Best Paper Award, Honorable Mention 2022
  • Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Jack A. Kraft Innovator Award 2021
  • University of Virginia Collaborative Excellence in Public Service Award 2020
  • University of Virginia Excellence in Public Service Award 2019
  • Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Bentzi Karsh Early Career Service Award 2018
  • University of Wisconsin Alumni Association Forward Under Forty Award 2018

Research Interests

  • Human Factors Engineering
  • Health Systems Engineering
  • Consumer Health IT
  • Culturally Informed Design
  • Co-Design
  • Inclusive Design
  • Mixed Methods
  • Health Disparities
  • Community-Based Participatory Research

Selected Publications

  • "Engaging the disability community in informatics research: rationales and practical steps." Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 29(11), 1989-1995. 2022. ABS Valdez, R.S., Lyon, S.E., Wellbeloved-Stone, C., Collins, M., Rogers, C.C., Cantin-Garside, K.D., Fortes, D.G., Kim, C., Desai, S.S., Keim-Malpass, J., Kushalnagar, R
  • "Provocations for reimagining informatics approaches to health equity." Yearbook of Medical Informatics, 31(1), 15-19. 2022. Valdez, R.S., Ancker, J.S., Veinot, T.C
  • "What makes a home? Designing home personas to represent the homes of families caring for children with medical complexity." Applied Ergonomics. 2022 Barton, H.J., Pflaster, E., Loganathar, S., Werner, A., Tarfa, A., Wilkins, D., Ehlenbach, M.L., Katz, B., Coller, R.J., Valdez, R.S., Werner, N.E.
  • "Ensuring full participation of people with disabilities in an era of telehealth." Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 2021. Valdez, R.S., Rogers, C.C., Claypool, H., Trieshmann, L., Frye, O., Wellbeloved-Stone, C., Kushalnagar, P.
  • "Informatics-enabled citizen science to advance health equity."Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 2021. Valdez, R.S., Detmer, D.E., Bourne, P., Kim, K.K., Austin, R., McCollister, A., Rogers, C.C., Waters-Wick, K.C.
  • "Designing consumer health information technology to support biform and articulation work: a qualitative study of diet and nutrition management as patient work." JMIR Human Factors. 2021. Rogers, C.C., Moutinho Jr, T.J., Liu, X., Valdez, R.S.
  • “Understanding the experiences of self-injurious behavior in autism spectrum disorder: implications for monitoring technology design." Journal of the American Informatics Association. 2021. Cantin, K., Nussbaum, M., White, S., Kim, S., Kim, C.D., Fortes, D., Valdez, R.S.
  • "Reimagining community-based research and action in human factors: A dialogue across disciplines." Advancing Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice through Human Systems Engineering. CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group. 2019. Valdez, R.S., Edmunds, D.
  • "Citizen science to further precision medicine: from vision to implementation." Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association Open. 2019. Petersen C., Austin, R., Backonja, U., Campos, H., Chung, A., Hekler, E., Hsueh, P., Kim, K., Pho, A., Salmi, L., Valdez, R.S.
  • "Ethics in health research using social media." In J. Bian, Z. He, X. Hu (Eds.), Social Web and Health Research: Benefits, Limitations, and Best Practices. Springer. 2019. ABS Valdez, R. S. & Keim-Malpass, J.
  • "Uncovering the invisible patient work system through a case study of breast cancer self-management." Ergonomics, 1-16. 2018. ABS Gorman, R. K., Wellbeloved-Stone, C. A., & Valdez, R. S.
  • “Using participatory action research to develop community-based initiatives to mitigate challenges to chronic disease management in an African American community living in public housing." Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. 2018. ABS Rogers, C., Johnson, J., Nueslein, B., Edmunds, D., Valdez, R. S.
  • "Macroergonomic factors in the patient work system: examining the context of patients with chronic illness." Ergonomics, 60(1), 26-43. 2017. ABS Holden, R. J., Valdez, R. S., Schubert, C. C., Thompson, M. J., Hundt, A. S.
  • "Embracing complexity: rethinking culturally informed design in human factors/ergonomics and consumer health informatics." International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 33, 322-332. 2017. ABS Valdez, R.S., Brennan, P.F.
  • "From loquacious to reticent: understanding patient health information communication to guide consumer health IT design." Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 2017. ABS Valdez, R.S., Guterbock, T.M., Fitzgibbon, K., Williams, I.C., Wellbeloved-Stone, C.A., Bears, J.E., Menefee, H.K.
  • "Exploring patients’ health information communication practices with social network members as a foundation for consumer health IT design." International Journal of Medical Informatics, 84(5), 363-74. 2015. ABS Valdez, R.S., Brennan, P.F.
  • "Transforming consumer health informatics through a patient work framework: connecting patients to context." Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 22(1), 2-10. 2015. ABS Valdez, R. S., Holden, R. J., Novak, L. L., Veinot, T. C.
  • "Beyond traditional advertisements: leveraging Facebook’s social structures for research recruitment." Journal of Medical Internet Research, 16 (10), e243. 2014. ABS Valdez, R.S., Guterbock, T.M., Thompson, M.J., Reilly, J.D., Menefee, H.K., Bennici, M.S., Williams, I.C., Rexrode, D.L.
  • "Adapting consumer health IT to enhance usability among different racial and ethnic groups within the United States." Health and Technology 2(4), 225-233. 2012. ABS Valdez, R. S., Gibbons, M. C., Siegel, E. R., Kukafka, R., Brennan, P. F.

Courses Taught

  • SYS 4581/6581, PHS 7500: Qualitative Methods for User-Centered Design
  • SYS 4581/6581, PHS 4016/7016: Human Factors Design for Community Health
  • SYS 4053/4054: Systems Design I + II
  • PHS 4991: Global Public Health Capstone
  • INST 2020: Disability in Contemporary Society