Human-Centered Computing (HCC)
School of Interactive Computing
Georgia Tech 🐝
Hi! 👋️ I'm a PhD candidate in Human-Centered Computing (HCC) at Georgia Tech, where I'm advised by Dr. Beth Mynatt and Dr. Sonia Chernova. My research broadly spans Human-Centered AI, Health Informatics, Aging, and Conversational AI Design. I design and evaluate LLM-based Conversational AI systems in social environments and in personal health management (such as for aging in place), with a particular emphasis on improving people's understanding of AI systems in data-rich health contexts through explanations of AI behavior. While technical advances have enabled AI systems to act more autonomously, they also introduce new challenges for people in understanding and appropriately relying on AI-generated information. I adopt a human-centered approach to study how explanations function in real-world human-AI interactions. In particular, my research investigates the challenges associated with how AI systems explain their behavior in practice and how those explanations influence users’ understanding, reliance, and oversight of AI systems over time.
I was recognized as a Foley Scholar Award Winner in 2025 (highest departmental award for research excellence in computing at Georgia Tech) and a George Family Foundation fellow for Innovation in Health Systems in 2022. My research has been published in leading venues in HCI, Accessibility and Ubicomp (e.g., CHI, CSCW, ASSETS, GROUP, UCAml), and has won a 🏆 Best Paper Award at ACM ASSETS 2022 and a 🏆 Best Poster Award at ACM GROUP 2025. My research has been generously funded by Emory Healthcare's Brain Health Center and the NSF AI-CARING Institute.
Prior to the PhD, I completed my Master's in Human-Computer Interaction (MS HCI) at Georgia Tech (2019-2021), during which I worked in the Everyday Computing Lab with Dr. Beth Mynatt and the Animal-Computer Interaction Lab with Dr. Melody Jackson.
2026
June'26: I got the wonderful opportunity to be part of the talkback panel at Atlanta Opera's production called Water Memory on memory, aging, and Artificial Intelligence. Read here: Atlanta Opera & Georgia Tech Arts Convene Artists, Researchers, & Technologists to Explore Memory.
May'26: My work with Dr. Smit Desai at Northeastern University on AI Explanations as Dialogues will be published as a provocation at the ACM Conversational User Interfaces (CUI) 2026 conference! 🎉
May'26: I gave a talk at the Department of Computer Science & Engineering at Santa Clara University, hosted by Dr. Kai Lukoff!
April'26: I will be presenting my work at the GVU Lunch Lectures Series as part of the 2025 Foley Scholar Award group! 🎉
March'26: My work on human-centered AI explanations for older adults got featured by Georgia Tech's College of Computing! 🎉
Read here: New Study Shows Explainability is a Must for Older Adults to Trust AI
March'26: Our paper on understanding caregiving experiences with technology for older adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment was conditionally accepted to CSCW 2026!! This paper has been a massive multi-year effort. More to come soon..🎉
March'26: I gave a talk at The Johns Hopkins University's Data Science and AI Institute, hosted by Dr. Chien-Ming Huang. ✨
February'26: Our short paper examining perceptions of AI personality while delivering explanations was accepted to CHI 2026! This is my first collaboration with the CHAI Lab at Northeastern University! More to come soon... 🇪🇸✨
January'26: Super excited to share that our paper on understanding user preferences for AI Explanations has been conditionally accepted to CHI 2026! More to come soon... 🇪🇸✨
January'26: I gave a talk at Northwestern University's Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies (CBITs) on designing human-centered explanations of LLM-based AI Systems, hosted by Dr. Maia Jacobs. A great start to the year, looking forward to many more such opportunities to share my work and learn from interdisciplinary research groups!
2025
November'25: I was awarded the Foley Scholar Award on Nov 5th at Georgia Tech. So grateful and excited! The Foley Scholars award is the highest departmental award for research excellence at Georgia Tech, named in honor of Dr. Jim Foley. 🎉🎉
November'25: I gave a talk at the Department of Computational Media at the University of California, Santa Cruz, on using research-through-design methods to understand user preferences for AI explanations, hosted by Dr. Christina Chung.
October'25: I attended the Responsible Computing, AI and Society (RCAIS) Summit at Georgia Tech from October 28 - 29.
October'25: I attended the Summit for AI Institutes Leadership (SAIL) 2025 as a Graduate Student Representative (GSR) from AICARING in Reston, Virginia. SAIL is the primary venue that brings together researchers and staff across 29 NSF-funded AI Institutes. Looking forward!
June'25: I attended the Human-Computer Interaction Consortium (HCIC) in Lake Lawn, Wisconsin, and presented my work on Building Context into AI Explanations.
May'25: I passed my PhD proposal at Georgia Tech and officially became a PhD Candidate! Fortunate to have a fantastic set of advisors and committee members. 🎉
April'25: Our one-day, hybrid workshop on Technology-Mediated Caregiving for Older Adults Aging in Place at CHI’25 in Japan was a success! We had 42 attendees from 11 countries join us in Japan for an insightful day of paper talks, pressing discussions, and collaborative design activities. 🎉
January'25: I presented a work-in-progress poster at GROUP’25 in Hilton Head, South Carolina, and won the Best Poster Award! 🏆
2024
November'24: Our workshop proposal was accepted to CHI’25. I’ll be working with 10 co-organizers across 7 global institutions to host this workshop in Yokohama, Japan. More to come soon! 🌸
October'24: I attended the AAAI Aging-in-Place Symposium in Arlington, Virginia.
August'24: I was selected to represent School of Interactive Computing (IC) on Georgia Tech College of Computing’s Graduate Student Advisory Council (GSAC).
July'24: I gave a talk on LLMs for Older Adults at GT OMSCS 8001: LLMs, hosted by Rachel Lowy.
April'24: I presented our work on contextual AI explanations at the Human-Centered Explainable AI (HCXAI) workshop at CHI’24 in Honolulu, Hawaii. 🦋
March'24: I gave a talk on Conversational AI Design in Multi-User Caregiving Settings at the RCHI Lab at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), hosted by Dr. Zachory Erickson.
January'24: I collaborated with researchers at Columbia University Medical School and Stevens Institute of Technology to write about the use of Artificial Intelligence in the determination of clinical outcomes for anesthesia. Journal paper here.
Previous years
November'23: I presented two of our works on explanations and conversational breakdowns in AI systems and on studying compensatory calendaring and archival strategies at UCAml'23 in Cancun. Paper here and here.
October'23: I presented our work on recognizing limitations in Conversational AI systems at CSCW'23 in Minneapolis. Paper here.
April'23: I passed the PhD Qualification Exam at Georgia Tech. 🎉
October'22: I presented our work on Conversational AI assistants for medication management at ASSETS'22 in Athens, Greece, and won the Best Paper Award! 🏆 . Paper here.
Publications
For the most updated list of my publications and writings, please see my Google Scholar profile, or my