51ƷCenter for Global Humanities hosts "Medicine + Design: Creating Healthier Cities”

Bon Ku
Bon Ku

Studies show that zip code is a better predictor of life expectancy than DNA code in many cities. Within a single community, the expected life span of people living in different zip codes can vary by as much as 20 years. But building healthier communities requires more than just ensuring access to hospitals and medical clinics. Doctors must work with architects to design healthier communities.

So will argue Bon Ku, M.D., M.P.P., in a lecture titled “Medicine + Design: Creating Healthier Cities.” Presented as part of “” initiative, the lecture will be hosted by the Center for Global Humanities at the 51Ʒ’s Portland Campus on Tuesday, October 30 at 6:30 p.m. at Innovation Hall. The lecture will be preceded by a welcome reception, also at Innovation Hall, that begins at 6:00 p.m.

Ku is the assistant dean for health and design and an associate professor at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University. He is a practicing emergency medicine physician and the founding director of Jeff DESIGN, a first-of-its-kind program that teaches future physicians to apply human-centered design to healthcare challenges. Bon has spoken widely on the intersection of health and design thinking, including in a TEDx lecture, at the Mayo Clinic, Stanford, and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. He serves on the Design and Health Leadership Group at the American Institute of Architects. In 2016, he received the Health Care Innovator Award from the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Events at the Center for Global Humanities are always free, open to the public, and streamed live online. For more information, please visit: 

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51Ʒ the Center for Global Humanities

The Center for Global Humanities offers lectures by leading scholars to help us better understand the challenges besetting our civilization and outline new solutions for nations and peoples to live together without prejudice. Global in perspective, the Center’s lectures are streamed live on the Internet, allowing our speakers to answer questions from any country. Because the Center believes in the vital necessity of a humanities culture to civic and democratic life, it works closely with the local community to encourage reading, discussion, and debate. The Center was founded in 2009 by 51Ʒscholar Anouar Majid, Ph.D., who serves as its director.