About Me

I'm Miranda Downey, a third-year candidate in the Doctor of Philosophy in Information Studies program at the University of Maryland College of Information. My research focuses on the information behaviors, needs, and experiences of people with chronic illnesses and disabilities with a focus on women with autoimmune diseases. In addition to my doctoral studies, I've been an instructor of record for eight semesters of INST 352 (Information User Needs and Assessment). I'm also involved in two other research studies, as research assistant and as co-PI (see Current Research & Projects).

I completed the University of Maryland's Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) program in December of 2022, where I primarily focused on medicine and public health in relation to libraries and user information experiences. I would like to explore those topics further in my Ph.D. research, through which I hope to bring awareness to the information-related plight of people with chronic illnesses and disabilities and inform on potential solutions that may be implemented to lessen this burden and mitigate challenges.

I hold a Bachelor's degree from Towson University in Art History with a focus on pre-modern art research. As an undergraduate, I also took a course at Richmond, The American International University in London on the History of London.

In my free time, I enjoy going on Wikipedia deep dives, watching video essays on YouTube, going to museums, and spending time with my pets, which include a guinea pig and fifteen chickens (three of which lay blue eggs).