Hi, I’m Hanna!

First off, lovely to meet you. I’m Hanna Barton and I use they/them pronouns. I’m a Scientist in the BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the Research Director of the Emergency Care Systems Laboratory.

I’m a researcher, integrator, and total design nerd who is here to create a world where all people can thrive.

My Research

Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.

Zora Neale Hurston

As a researcher, my interests lie in designing care systems that reliably deliver safe, equitable, and humane care, particularly in emergency settings where the stakes are high and the systems are complex. I approach healthcare through a human factors lens, using field research methods to understand systems and human-centered design to align those systems with the outcomes we care about.

My research advances three interconnected dimensions of sociotechnical system design: characterizing how work is actually done in complex care environments; co-designing solutions alongside clinicians, patients, and operational leaders; and developing engineering methods that support adaptation — helping care systems evolve responsibly as technologies like AI reshape how care is delivered. The goal, always, is systems that actually work for the people inside them.

This involves working collaboratively with the people these systems impact, including clinicians, patients, caregivers, health system leaders, and many others, and bringing rigor and humility to that work in equal measure.

View my ResearchGate Profile
Check out my Google Scholar page
Read my CV
Access my publications

About Me

From the beginning, my training has sat at the intersection of engineering and equity. I hold a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering with a minor in Gender and Women’s Studies, and a Ph.D. and M.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering (Human Factors) with a PhD minor in Health Equity Research, all from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Care spills into every area of my life. I’m trained as a doula and am building the Exquisite Care Collective, a community project rooted in the belief that we all deserve to be exquisitely cared for by virtue of being alive.

I’m rooted in Madison, WI, where I live with my partner and step-child. As a retired Badger athlete, I still hold a place among UW’s all-time top 10 discus throwers with a personal best of 53.16m (174’4″). Now I coach high school athletes in the throws (shot put and discus) at my alma mater, McFarland High School. Outside of the lab and off the track, you might find me kayaking with a friend, daydreaming about my upcoming travel, or reading and writing poetry in my oversized blue chair.

Writings

  • The power of an introduction

    If you think about how we use language to interact with people, pronouns are fundamental. If I’m introducing you to my friend, I’m likely to say something like, “Hey! This is Madison—they’re a good friend of mine.” We use these introductory moments to create relatedness, yet, inadvertently, something about identity gets expressed. If we aren’t…

  • A Note to self… Transformative Birth is Possible

    Birth is a natural process.[1] Our bodies are capable of it.[2] Surrounded by people who believe this and support this notion allows us to know this for ourselves. Few things in life offer the profound opportunity of re-defining who you are and what you are capable of to the same degree. When pregnancy, labor, and…

  • Math Musings: We all think we are imposters

    I sit down at the small round table, rubbing the hand sanitizer I’ve just gotten into my hands. It’s 12:57 p.m. on Thursday, just before my regular volunteering shift in the children’s hospital and I’m wearing my red polo and name badge. I know I’m meeting a student today, but I don’t know how old…

  • The 1 Question to Ask to Get Unstuck

    I’ve always had a slight obsession with whiteboards. So much so that when I came back from the University Innovation Fellows Silicon Valley Meet-up in November of 2017, I started drawing up designs for a whiteboard wall (despite the fact that my husband and I occupied a 650 square-foot studio apartment). I settled on a…

  • 3 Finals Week Study Hacks from a Lifelong Learner

    In honor of the brief respite of UW-Madison’s study day—the calm before the storm that is finals week—I’m putting pen-to-paper, so to speak, on some study hacks I have developed in my 5+ years in higher education studying engineering. My goal is to leave you with (at the very least) one thing you can implement…

  • 3 Things to know about Human Factors Engineering: Starting with what the heck is it?

    Most of the time when I tell people I’m studying Human Factors Engineering, I get a blank stare or an “oh, so you mean the human side of engineering!” I respond with “Kind of!” and launch into my elevator pitch on what Human Factors Engineering (HFE) is… “It was formerly called Engineering Psychology,” I say,…

I’ve been featured in the news…

… for being a notable graduate at UW-Madison’s Spring 2023 Doctoral, Medical professional, and MFA commencement. [May 12, 2023]

… for chatting about human factors engineering on Your Health Matters. [February 10, 2021]

… for writing a letter to UW Badger’s Senior Athletic Department Staff and Athletic Director Barry Alvarez requesting real, tangible action toward racial justice.

… for my graduate research work in human factors engineering. [February 10, 2020]

… for making a difference as an athlete and an innovator in my time as a student. [March 26, 2019]

… for being a notable graduate at UW-Madison’s December 2018 Commencement. [December 10, 2018]

… for performing Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours” at the 2018 Buckinghams, Wisconsin Athletic’s annual Student-Athlete Talent and Awards night. [April 25, 2018]

… for being part of the first cohort of University Innovation Fellows on UW-Madison’s campus. [June 5, 2017]

… for traveling abroad to Vietnam to teach and coach with the Coach for College program. [August 14, 2015]