Michelle Yeung

biography

Michelle is a doctoral candidate in the DPhil in Translational Health Sciences programme, which takes interdisciplinary and applied approaches to the challenges of implementing innovations and research discoveries in healthcare settings. Her DPhil is funded through a jointly-awarded doctoral studentship from the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, Green Templeton College, and Oxford PharmaGenesis (an independent health science communications consultancy). 

Michelle is a mixed-methods researcher with a focus on qualitative methods and health inequities, drawing on theory from science and technology studies, the political economy of health, and medical sociology. She has an interdisciplinary health studies background, notably in the fields of health policy and medical anthropology. 

Her previous research experiences include the 'Experience-based investigation and Co-design of approaches to Prevent and reduce Mental Health Act Use' (Co-PACT) study in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, as well as mixed-methods studies with Marie Curie UK and University College London involving (i) understanding access to palliative care support for people with advanced ill health who have unsettled immigration status and (ii) piloting a questionnaire to assess premature frailty in London hostels.

She completed her Bachelor of Health Sciences Honours at McMaster University in Canada, as well as a MSc in Medicine, Health and Public Policy from King's College London and a MPhil in Medical Anthropology from the University of Oxford. 

DPhil project

Entitled 'Disrupting Dermatology: can digital tools overcome the challenges of algorithmic bias and threats to professionalism in dermatology to deliver benefits to patients and services?', Michelle's project will explore how health disparities manifest in the development, uptake, and implementation of digital health technologies, with a focus on artificial intelligence, racial bias, and skin cancer.

She seeks to engage with a variety of stakeholders including healthcare professionals, patients, and members of the health technology industry (including software engineers and product managers) to examine how digital tools disrupt traditional dermatology practice.

She is interested in exploring the socio-technical/-cultural impacts of AI on the patient-clinician relationship and wider healthcare infrastructure, to ensure the benefits of advancing technologies can be harnessed for effective and equitable care.