Vicky Celedon-Garcia is a third-year History, Technology, and Society major studying medical comics and public health with Dr. Leah Misemer.

How long have you been an undergraduate researcher at Georgia Tech?

I joined Dr. Misemer’s Graphic Medicine VIP in Fall of 2023 and have been conducting research with her since then!

How did you get involved with undergraduate research?

I became involved in undergraduate research through multiple avenues. While the Graphic Medicine VIP introduced me to research, I began working with a GT professor I had taken classes with to conduct a digital ethnography on masculinity discourse from a sociological lens. One day, after class, I asked my professor if he was interested in having a research assistant for his next project, and soon after he introduced me to the topic and added him to his team.

What are you working on?

I’m currently working on making a piece of graphic medicine! Graphic medicine is any comic, infographic, or graphic novel that aims to communicate medical and public health information. As a part of Dr. Misemer’s VIP, I have analyzed pieces of graphic medicine and applied those lessons towards creating comics for Shepherd Spinal Center, a leading tertiary trauma center located about 20 minutes from Tech’s campus. Specifically, my sub-team is in the process of creating a comic about the struggles of living with low vision and the many different technologies available to help navigate life with low vision, like white canes and screen readers. Over the course of two semesters, we have researched the most common kinds of low vision technology (LVT) and interviewed people with low vision to learn how to portray a visual disability accurately and respectfully. We have also tried to adapt our comics to make them accessible to people with low vision by using bright, contrasting colors and avoiding handwritten text that a screen reader would not be able to pick up. We hope to have our comic (along with other pieces of graphic medicine from the VIP) publicly available on a website by next semester!

What is your favorite thing about research/researching?

My favorite thing about research is its collaborative aspect. While much of my research is done alone, I love being able to share my finding with other people on my team and hearing their own insights and perspectives. Being able to rely on my team and mentor for support has done wonders for the quality of my work, since I know I can rely on them for encouragement and criticism whenever I need it. I also love discovering new ways of looking at our world, no matter the discipline.

What are your future plans and how has research influenced them?

After I graduate from Georgia Tech, I plan on earning a master’s in public health and concentrating my studies on the intersection of sociology, public health, and communication. Before doing research, I never considered academia as a potential career path because I wasn’t interested in studying a hard science like physics or math. Doing research at Tech has not only broadened my definition of research, but it has also shown me that every field of study, including sociology and public health, needs their own academics to propel the study forward.