Rice University Research Repository


The Rice Research Repository (R-3) provides access to research produced at Rice University, including theses and dissertations, journal articles, research center publications, datasets, and academic journals. Managed by Fondren Library, R-3 is indexed by Google and Google Scholar, follows best practices for preservation, and provides DOIs to facilitate citation. Woodson Research Center collections, including Rice Images and Documents and the Task Force on Slavery, Segregation, and Racial Injustice, have moved here.



 

Recent Submissions

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2024 Storm Impacts in Houston and Harris County: A Descriptive Overview
(Rice University Kinder Institute for Urban Research, 2025) Njeh, Joy; Simburger, Dylan
This study looks at Houston residents' experiences both immediately and in the aftermath of the May derecho and Hurricane Beryl. It also examines the cumulative impact of the weather events, focusing on the proportion of residents affected by more than one storm and how these experiences may have overlapped.
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Housing Affordability and Instability
(Rice University Kinder Institute for Urban Research, 2025) Potter, Dan; Dawson, Lauren; DeLisi, Anna; Niznik, Aaron; Njeh, Joy; Perez, Katherine; Pren, Karen; Simburgee, Dylan; Valikhanova, Aiganym; Williams, Lee
This study looked at housing affordability and instability in the Houston area. Residents were asked how difficult it was in the past 12 months to afford housing costs, and if certain factors such as increasing rents or utility bills, contributed to the difficulty they experienced. Residents were also asked whether the challenges they faced had forced them to move in the past year.
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The Value of Interviews in Representing the Long-Term Effects of Radiation in Kazakhstan
(2024) Nambiar, Annika
Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan was once the Soviet Union’s carefully concealed testing site for nuclear weapons, unbeknown even to nearby residents. In 1989, information about radioactive contamination became public knowledge, causing outcry. As a result, Semipalatinsk and its surrounding areas have high rates of structural and systemic health issues from nuclear testing, which were exacerbated by the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The long-term effects of this testing continue to burden the Kazakhstan healthcare system and its people today. In 1995, the American International Health Alliance (AIHA) formed the Houston-Semipalatinsk Partnership (HSP) to support better outcomes through systemic changes in affected regions following their independence from the former USSR. This paper, “The Value of Interviews in Representing the Long-Term Effects of Radiation in Kazakhstan,” discusses the subset of a collection of interviews about radiation effects and events involving hospital and healthcare administrators from the Texas Medical Center (TMC) Library and Kazakhstan who participated in the HSP. These interviews demonstrate how first-person sources highlight the voice and experience of the individual, conserve nonverbal information, and serve as a dynamic and engaging method to share history with the public. This work draws from interviews that the author and other Rice undergraduates conducted. These interviews are available online through Rice University’s Woodson Research Center and the TMC Library for the public to learn about these efforts in depth.
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The Houston-Semipalatinsk Healthcare Partnership: A Lesson in Science Diplomacy
(2024) Shridharan, Rishi V.; Laufman, Larry; Rozin, Sara; Weinberg, Armin
The 1995–99 Houston-Semipalatinsk Healthcare Partnership (HSP) was an international collaboration between healthcare institutions in Houston, Texas, and Semey, Kazakhstan (previously called Semipalatinsk). This partnership was established to create a synergistic exchange that would address public health needs identified by Kazakh institutions and that would be self-sustaining. Semey was the primary site of Soviet-era atomic bomb testing for over forty years, exposing millions of people to sustained radiation. When the Soviet Union was dissolved, Semey’s healthcare infrastructure was insufficient to care for the existing population, let alone deal with the added health effects of low-dose radiation. To address these challenges, the HSP was established with funding through the American International Health Alliance (AIHA), under a cooperative agreement with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Houston and Semey partners jointly formulated goals for healthcare reform and mobilized resources across institutions and governments. Through cultural, economic, educational, and technical exchange, the partnership afforded unique advantages as an international program of medical, scientific, and socioeconomic alliances. The many accomplishments of this partnership illustrate the efficacy of this collaborative approach and highlight the crucial need for government support of sustained programming to make transformative progress.
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Experiences, Observations, and Recommendations Related to Visits to the Semey Region of Kazakhstan from the Perspective of a Hospital Administrator
(2024) Wright, Randall P.
This community case study is based on personal experiences as the Methodist Hospital representative assigned to the American International Health Alliance (AIHA) project in Semey, Kazakhstan during 1995-1996. Although I had over twenty years of hospital management experience, the healthcare structure in Kazakhstan was functioning on a rudimentary level, which made my background of limited help. Specifically, the transition from a Soviet Republic to an independent nation had disrupted the economy and left the healthcare system in shambles. Over three visits to the region—February 1995, August 1995, and September 1996—I was able to see cultural and economic barriers to changing the healthcare structure to a more efficient, all-encompassing medicine model. In broad terms, the lessons I learned were: (1) how poorly prepared I was to help with the terrible conditions in the Semey hospitals; (2) the difficulty presented by dependence on translation, which limited development of strong personal relationships with the Kazakhs; (3) the need to balance various Kazakh interests and the competition among hospitals and entities over control of the AIHA project; (4) an appreciation for Bishop Woodrow Hearn and Dr. Armin Weinberg, who first saw the needs and opportunities to help this region; and (5) missed opportunities to make my role more productive, such as contacting non-government organization (NGO) representatives on the ground prior to travel. The goal of this case study is to share what I learned and experienced during the visits, working as part of an international program that crossed cultural and governmental lines, and these lessons remain relevant today.