Helen Sanematsu
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Helen Sanematsu is a designer who wants things to fit. In her research she specializes in bringing together people and projects in innovative and mutually beneficial ways. Her translational research in design builds infrastructure for rich and long lasting engagement between the community and the University. Professor Sanematsu uses design to find the best fit between a person and a project; a problem and a solution; or an opportunity and its potential. Partnering with the University, she uses design methodology to enrich community relationships to better fit community needs. She conducts her translational research primarily with the School of Medicine in community health research.
Prof. Sanematsu developed CLIC*: Communicating Life in Our Community / Communicando la vida en nuestra comunidad, as a way of starting a bi-directional, mutually beneficial dialogue with the University. Initially conceived to assist the School to better engage participants for community based health research, Sanematsu's contribution expands the scope of the project and its ongoing potential to encompass overall community development. By sharing the story of their daily lives with photography, interactive activities, and design projects, both community participants in CLIC* and researchers together start to develop an infrastructure for ongoing, bi-directional and mutually beneficial engagement.