Guest Speaker: Sara Bayramzadeh
https://www.instagram.com/p/CsWF1s7sqAB/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
Dr. Sara Bayramzadeh is an Associate Professor and the Elliot Professor in the Healthcare Design program at Kent State University, home to one of the leading graduate programs in healthcare design in the United States. She also leads Kent State’s Graduate Certificate in Health Systems and Facilities Design, which prepares working professionals for interdisciplinary collaboration at the intersection of healthcare delivery and the built environment. Dr. Bayramzadeh teaches in the Master of Healthcare Design program, where she trains future design professionals to create environments that support safety, efficiency, and positive outcomes for patients, staff, and healthcare systems.
Some of her research focuses on the design of psychiatric units and surgical environments, and trauma rooms. She served as Principal Investigator on a multi-year, $2.4 million federally funded research project supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). This work explored trauma room design using innovative tools such as augmented reality, automated observation, and full-scale simulation to develop evidence-based guidelines for safer, more ergonomic environments.
Her research has been widely published in journals including Health Environments Research & Design Journal, Applied Ergonomics, and BMJ Quality & Safety, and she frequently speaks at national and international conferences. She also collaborates with leading architectural firms to translate research into practice.
Dr. Bayramzadeh has received several recognitions, including the 2025 HCD 10 Researcher Award, the 2022 HCD 10 Educator Award, the 2023 President’s Faculty Excellence Award, the 2022 Excellence in Graduate Mentoring Award, and inclusion on the 2021 U40 List by the AIA Academy of Architecture for Health, which honors the best in healthcare design under 40.
She holds a Ph.D. in Design, Construction and Planning from the University of Florida and a Master of Architecture from Miami University.
Recording of the presentation:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1R4WRV3yG9RoCxJIKXknmeL0-qz0EM8d1/view?usp=drive_link