Rachel Thomas

Rachel Thomas is a Senior Lecturer in Comics, Graphic Novels & Sequential Arts at SACI Art, Teesside University. She is a Canadian multimedia artist and interdisciplinary humanities researcher specializing in graphic medicine, focusing on the intersection of comics and healthcare, particularly women’s health and the critique of medical discourse.

• Education: PhD from Concordia University (2023), MA from University of Calgary (2016), BA from York University (2014)

Her research explores the medicalized body, using heuristic strategies to bridge objective medical perspectives with subjective patient experiences. She is renowned for her 2024 graphic novel Shrink: Story of a Fat Girl, which addresses weight bias and fat studies. Her publications include peer-reviewed articles and online content emphasizing accessibility and sociocultural analysis.

Thomas has held prestigious positions such as Concordia Public Scholars Program member (2020) and Visiting Scholar at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (2026). Her scientific awards include SSHRC Doctoral Grant and Canada Council for the Arts funding.

• Scientific Awards:
  • SSHRC Doctoral Grant (2016)
  • Concordia Fine Arts Fellowship (2016)
  • Royal College of Art London scholarship and exchange (2016)
  • Canada Council for the Arts Research and Creation (2015, 2014)

She has participated in numerous conferences and exhibitions globally, including the Toronto Comic Art Festival (2025) and galleries in Montreal, Calgary, and Toronto. Thomas also serves on the Health Humanities Committee at Concordia University and as a reviewer for Graphic Medicine Review.