Dr Itzelle Medina-Perea

BA (UNAM, Mexico), MA (91Ö±²¥), PhD (91Ö±²¥)

Information School

Lecturer in Information Systems

Itzelle Medina Perea
Profile picture of Itzelle Medina Perea
i.medinaperea@sheffield.ac.uk

Full contact details

Dr Itzelle Medina-Perea
Information School
Room C600
The Wave
2 Whitham Road
91Ö±²¥
S10 2AH
Profile

I am a Lecturer in Information Systems at the Information School since September 2023.  I am interested in exploring the factors that shape data flows, data practices, and the uses of data and information systems.

Adopting a Critical Data Studies perspective, my PhD (Award date: February 2022) contributes to understanding how ideational factors (e.g. beliefs, assumptions, expectations), in interaction with material conditions (e.g. funding, infrastructure and labour) work together to shape the movement of health data. I focused on how the expectations of university-based researchers interact with material conditions to shape the circulation of data through interconnected information systems from the UK healthcare sector to universities for reuse in research.

Before starting my current role, I held a variety of teaching and research positions at this University. Highlights of my research trajectory include my participation as a researcher in two large-scale projects: Patterns in Practice (AHRC-funded) and Living with Data (Nuffield-funded). Since 2017, I have engaged in a diverse range of teaching activities at the Information School, actively contributing to a variety of modules within the following masters courses: Information Systems, Data Science, Information Management, and Librarianship. Before this, I worked as a university teaching associate in the BA Librarianship programme at The National Autonomous University of Mexico.

In addition to this, I have experience beyond academia, having worked for the World Wide Web Foundation (A4AI Good Practices Database - Alliance for Affordable Internet), and for the National Council of Science and Technology (CONAHCYT Mexico). 

Departmental  responsibilities

  • Departmental Employment Coordinator
  • Employability Lead for Information Management and Information Systems
Research interests

My research is in the growing field of Critical Data Studies. It explores ideational and material factors shaping data practices. My work has been mainly concerned with understanding how the culture of university-based researchers impacts the flow of health data generated in the UK healthcare sector and how socio-cultural values and norms interact to shape the movement of data through interconnected information systems. These research interests are relevant within debates with a critical perspective on the uses of data. I conduct these explorations by applying qualitative methods (e.g. critical discourse analysis, interviews, focus groups, participant observation). 

Before my current role, I worked on two large-scale interdisciplinary research projects:

  • From 2021 to 2023, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher on Patterns in Practice (AHRC-funded), investigating how practitioners’ beliefs, values and feelings interact to shape how they engage with and in data mining and machine learning. External partners: GSK and JISC.
  • From 2019 to 2021, I worked as a researcher on Living with Data (Nuffield-funded), exploring how people feel and think about the uses of personal data. External partners: DWP and BBC.

I am interested in supervising PhD projects which adopt a critical approach to studying data flows, data practices, and the uses of data and digital technologies. I am primarily a qualitative researcher and am experienced in a variety of methods (e.g. critical discourse analysis, interviews, focus groups, participant observation).

Potential topics include:

  • Data flows in the healthcare sector
  • Impact of data sharing scandals and controversies in shaping data flows and data practices
  • Public and practitioner expectations  about the uses of personal data and data-driven research
  • Use and reuse of personal data
  • Use of digital technologies in the healthcare sector
  • Data and AI changing organisations and society both positively and negatively
Publications

Journal articles

  • Ditchfield H, Oman S, Kennedy H, Fratczak M, Bates J, Taylor M & Medina Perea I (2024) . Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Medina-Perea I, Bates J & Cox A (2024) . Big Data & Society, 11(4). RIS download Bibtex download
  • Wakeling S, Willett P, Creaser C, Fry J, Pinfield S, Spezi V, Bonne M, Founti CM & Medina Perea I (2020) . Journal of Information Science, 46(1), 82-100. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Medina Perea I, Bates J, Fratczak M, Kennedy H & Ochu E () . AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Bates J, Kennedy H, Medina Perea I, Oman S & Pinney L () . Journal of Documentation. RIS download Bibtex download

Chapters

  • Medina-Perea I, Bates J, Fratczak M & Ochu E (2024) , Wisdom, Well-Being, Win-Win (pp. 54-61). Springer Nature Switzerland RIS download Bibtex download

Conference proceedings papers

  • Medina Perea IA, Bates J & Cox A (2019) . iConference 2019 Proceedings RIS download Bibtex download
  • Medina Perea IA, Bates J & Cox A () Exploring the life of patient data in the UK healthcare sector. AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research, 2020(2020: AoIR2020) RIS download Bibtex download

Reports

  • Kennedy H, Taylor M, Oman S, Bates J, Medina Perea I, Ditchfield H & Pinney E (2021) Living with Data survey report RIS download Bibtex download

Website content

  • Medina Perea I & Medina Perea IA NHS data gathering: government plans to collect and share health records are hugely concerning – here’s why. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Medina Perea IA Health data sharing: scandals and solutions to improve health research data practices. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Medina Perea IA & Guler G Data for Policy 2020: Recap of Day 1. RIS download Bibtex download

Posters

  • Medina Perea IA (2018) The socio-cultural factors that influence the movement of personal data in the UK healthcare sector. Information Behaviour Conference (ISIC). RIS download Bibtex download
Teaching activities

INF401 - AI in Organisations 

INF6022 - Information Knowledge and Management 

INF6041 - ICTs, Innovation and Change

INF6320 - Information Systems and Organisations 

Professional activities and memberships
  • Co-editor of Data & Policy Journal, Area 5 Algorithmic Governance (2023 -)
  • Peer reviewer for journals and international conferences: Big Data and Society, Online Information Review, Data & Policy, iConference, AoIR Conference.
  • Member of The Public Data Lab (https://publicdatalab.org/), an interdisciplinary network exploring what difference the digital makes in attending to public problems.
  • Member of the Association of Internet Researchers (2020 -)
  • Member of ASIS&T (2023 -)