She is a professor in the departments of Bioengineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering, and she is the Director of Rice 360°: Institute for Global Health, and the Founder of Beyond Traditional Borders.
Richards-Kortum is the recipient of the Pierre Galletti Award, the highest honor from the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), for her contributions to global health care and bioengineering technology.
Due to a dearth of women mentors and role models, she initially aspired to be a high school math and science teacher upon her graduation.
[3] Richards-Kortum began her academic career at The University of Texas at Austin in the electrical and computer engineering department, where she rose through the ranks from assistant, to associate, to full professor.
[4] After learning that many people lacked access in early screening options for cancer, she developed a low-cost battery imaging system that could detect premalignant tissues without a biopsy.
She is also the 2017 finalist of the MacArthur Foundation grant where she received millions of dollars for her team to develop and implement their neonatal technology that is estimated to prevent over 85 percent of newborn deaths in Africa.
In 2016 she received the Pierre Galletti Award, the highest honor from the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), for her contributions to global health care and bioengineering technology.