Faculty
Andrea Grimes Parker, PhD
Dr. Andrea Grimes Parker is the director of the Wellness Technology Lab and an Associate Professor in the School of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and the Morehouse School of Medicine. Her interdisciplinary research in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Personal Health Informatics examines how social and ubiquitous computing systems can help reduce racial and socioeconomic health disparities.
Dr. Parker’s research has been funded through awards from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Aetna Foundation, and Google. She serves as co-chair for the Workgroup on Interactive Systems in Healthcare (WISH), and is a member of the Georgia Maternal Health Research for Action Steering Committee and the Association of Computing Machinery’s Steering Committee on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing. Dr. Parker has received several best paper nominations for her research on health equity.
Education:
PhD, Human-Centered Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology
BS, Computer Science, Northeastern University
Fun Fact:
Music is a big passion of mine. I studied piano for several years and sang in various choirs as an undergraduate and graduate student.
Laura Levy, PhD 
Dr. Laura Levy serves as lab manager of the Wellness Lab and is a Senior Research Scientist in the Institute of People and Technology at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Laura is a human factors psychologist specializing in behavioral studies in designing and evaluating technologies that maximize human experience, potential, performance. She has expertise in accessibility design, technologies to support aging in place, as well as augmented and virtual reality health interventions.
Education:
PhD, Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology
MS, Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology
MS, Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology
BS, Zoology, University of Florida
Fun Fact:
I absolutely love wild birds and birdwatching so have built what I call Birdtopia in my backyard where you can find dozens of songbirds flitting around all day (and entertaining one nightly opossum guest).
PhD Students
Elizabeth Stowell
My research is in the fields of Public Health, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and in Personal Health Informatics. I am broadly interested in social determinants of sexual health, stigmatization of disease, and health activism. I am currently exploring how community informatics can be used to address inequities in sexual health and sexual violence.
Education:
BA, Health and Society, Wellesley College
Fun Fact:
I love to play soccer and have since I was five years old.
Yixuan (Janice) Zhang
My research interest lies at the intersection of crisis informatics, visualization, and health. I am broadly interested in studying people’s perception and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), focused on traditionally marginalized and vulnerable populations. My PhD dissertation examines how people’s information trust and perceptions are shaped by, and in turn, shapes the design of ICTs and sociotechnical systems in times of crisis. I applied mixed methods to guide my empirical and design work. I capture human experiences, perceptions, and views through interviews, observations, participatory design, longitudinal surveys, and systematic analysis of artifacts.
Fun Fact:
I am a photographer. I also love swimming and tennis.
Vanessa Oguamanam
Vanessa is a Creative Technologist and PhD student in Computer Science at Georgia Institute of Technology. Her research explores the design and evaluation of mobile and wearable-based digital health interventions that can support wellbeing of and help combat health inequities for racial and ethnic minoritized women.
Education:
BS, Computer Science, University of Maryland College Park
MS, Human-Computer Interaction, University of Maryland College Park
Fun Fact:
I love to sew and make my own clothes.
Adrian Choi
My research interests lie in the intersection of social media, youth activism, and community development. I am interested in how social media is and can be used by youth for learning about socio-political issues and becoming activists in their own right. I collaborate with community-based organizations that civically engage youth to be involved in the social and political life of their local communities and am also interested in how these organizations–together with social media–can motivate youth to care for their communities. To that end, I predominantly employ qualitative methods that include interviews and participatory design; however, I do like to sprinkle in the occasional mixed methods study.
Education:
BS, Cognitive Science, University of Michigan—Ann Arbor
MHI, Health Informatics, University of Michigan—Ann Arbor
Fun Fact:
If I wasn’t a PhD student, I might have become a barista. You’ll always find me with a laptop in one hand and a coffee mug in the other.
Darley Sackitey
My research interests are focused on community building, care and health equity. I am interested in how communities can act as resources for their members to promote positive health behaviours and outcomes, as well as the development of digital tools that address health disparities in marginalised communities. I am currently exploring how black church support systems can be leveraged in mobile health tools to motivate behaviour changes in members.
Education:
BA, Cognitive Science & Quantitative Social Sciences, Dartmouth College
Fun Fact:
I am an avid milk-first advocate, and have the slides to prove why it is the superior way to make cereal 🙂
Sherilyn Francis
Sherilyn A. Francis, MPH, MSBT, has a primary research focus on developing strategies to reduce, and ultimately eliminate, health disparities in racial and ethnic minority populations and underserved communities through technological and community-based participatory research (CBPR) approaches. Ms. Francis is currently exploring technological approaches to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes among Black/African American (B/AA) women.
Education:
MSBT, Bioinformatics, Morehouse School of Medicine
MPH, Epidemiological and Biostatistical Methods for Public Health and Clinical Research, Morehouse School of Medicine
BS, Public Health, Georgia Southern University
Niharika Mathur
My research interests are broadly focused on Human-AI Interaction for Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment and their caregivers and exploring how different levels of explainability in AI systems can engender trust in them. I am also interested in exploring how community-based interventions help in forming online social identity in networked groups. I mostly work with use-inspired qualitative user research methods, while also occasionally making use of quantitative methods. I am also fortunate to be co-advised by Dr. Andrea Parker and Dr. Beth Mynatt in the Everyday Computing Lab.
Fun Fact:
I grew up surrounded by dogs and cats. One of my biggest goals in life is to work with shelter animals and be able to help every animal I possibly can!
Master’s Students
Nemath Ahmed
Hi, I’m Nemath! As a CS grad student at Georgia Tech and a Backend Developer at the Wellness Tech Lab, I’m fascinated by the way technology can improve health equity and accessibility. My passion for this field was fueled by my experience at Dozee.io, where I got to delve into this field even deeper, especially on the side of AI-driven remote healthcare. I also work with the Polo Club of Data Science at Georgia Tech to defend machine-learning models from attacks.
Education:
BS, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Indore
Fun Fact:
I love making music, and I sometimes express it through the strums of my guitar. I also tap into my inner strength through the sport of boxing.
Prachi Chopde
Hi, I am Prachi! I am a current student in the M.S. Human-Computer Interaction program at Georgia Tech. I am passionate about helping people and organizations solve problems by employing a human-centered approach. My areas of interest are Healthcare/health equity, accessibility, diversity + inclusion, and psych.
Education
BS, Information Sciences and Technology, Penn State University
Fun Fact:
I love yoga, chai, and tiramisu!
Seka Dembure
Seka Dembure is an aspiring UX designer who hopes to utilize her knowledge of Psychology to create meaningful experiences. She is a current student in the M.S. Human-Computer Interaction program at Georgia Tech. aa
Education
BA, Psychology, Emory University
Fun Fact:
I am a native to Atlanta.
Joseph Gaggiano
I am a 2nd-year MS-HCI student at Georgia Tech, interested specifically in UX research. Within the Wellness Technology Lab, I support Janice Zhang’s research at the intersection of trust, distrust, mistrust and social media.
Education:
BS, Cognitive Science, UCLA
Fun Fact:
I grew up with a TON of pets. At one time when I was younger, my family had two birds, two cats, a dog, a chameleon, a hamster, and fish.
Claire Huang
I’m Claire and I am pursuing a MSHCI at Gatech. I’m originally from Shanghai with a liberal arts background from William and Mary. I believe in rigorous research, sympathy, creativity and aesthetics ad the essentials to human-centered design. Outside my work, I like playing tennis, going to gym, and hiking!
Da Hee “Sophie” Kim
Hi there! I’m Sophie, a graduate student at Georgia Tech studying Industrial and Product Design. My research interests lie in the intersection of health equity, accessibility, and multi-modal interaction for inclusive design. Through my design research, I’m hoping to contribute the positive change in the world while empowering the underrepresented and engaging more people to become happy. 🙂
Education
BS, Industrial & Product Design, Georgia Institute of Technology
Fun Fact:
I worked as a dental assistant for past three years!
Xiao Luo
I’m a second-year master’s student in HCI at Georgia Tech and I love crafting accessible digital products that make people’s life easier and more fun. Before joining the lab, I’ve been working as a product designer for the financial and tech industry for 5 years. Now my interests lie in healthcare design, data vis, and product strategy.
Education
BS, Industrial & Product Design, Georgia Institute of Technology
Fun Fact:
I love guinea pigs!
Grace Pfohl
I am a first-year M.S. in Computer Science student specializing in Human-Computer Interaction. My research interests are at the intersection of health, education, and equity. After graduation, I am most interested in how user research can improve product design.
Education
B.S. Computer Science, Georgia Institute of Technology
Fun Fact:
I have visited twelve countries and counting!
Kewal Shah
Kewal Shah is a Front-End Developer and UX Designer. He is currently a 2nd-year student in the MS Human-Computer Interaction program at Georgia Tech. At the Wellness Technology Lab, Kewal works as the Lead Developer for SavvyHER – a cross-platform mobile app to reduce HIV risks and improve sexual health communication among Black women. He is also passionate about web accessibility and is currently working with Microsoft to improve the user experience of their web accessibility tool so that developers can build more inclusive websites.
Education
B.Tech, Computer Engineering, NMIMS University
Fun Fact:
I also love watching nature documentaries and am very passionate about wildlife conservation.
Rebecca Tafete
Hi! I’m Rebecca, and I’m a first-year M.S. Computer Science student specializing in Human-Computer Interaction at Georgia Tech. I believe that the best technical tools can only be created by forming connections with people and really listening to their needs. My current work in the Wellness Technology Lab supports Darley’s research on the ways pregnant black women express stress on social media and its effects on postpartum mental health.
Education
BS, Computer Science, Georgia Institute of Technology
Fun Fact:
I LOVE coffee and go to coffee shops is one of my favorite past times (much to my wallet’s chagrin)– if you have any recommendations, send them my way!
Undergraduate Research Assistants & Volunteers
Rachel Daniel (BS Computer Science, Georgia Tech)
Khusbu Patel (BS Computer Science, Georgia Tech)
Lindsey Nicholas (BS Computer Science, Georgia Tech)
Shirley Shabnam (BS Computer Science, Georgia Tech)
Alumni
Kai McKeever (BS Computer Science, Georgia Tech)
Morgan Allen (BS, Morehouse School of Medicine)
Sabreen Mohammad (MPH, Emory University)
Anisa Amiji (Health Equity Intern, Northeastern University)
Melissa Ramkarran (Health Equity Intern, Northeastern University)
Herman Saksono, PhD (PhD Computer Science, Northeastern University)
Farnaz Irannejad Bisafar, PhD (PhD Computer Science, Northeastern University)
Reneé Wurth, PhD (PhD Population Health, Northeastern University)
Emma Simpson, PhD (PhD Digital Civics, Newcastle University)
Deepak Krishnan (MS Computer Science, Northeastern University)
Nivedita Mittal (MS Computer Science, Northeastern University)
Bahar Haji-Sheikhi (BS Computer Science, Northeastern University)
Chelsi Gibson (Northeastern University)
Mackenzie Breen (Health Equity Intern, Northeastern University)
Anita Onuoha (Health Equity Intern, Northeastern University)
Olivia Sterns (Health Equity Intern, Northeastern University)
Lina Martinez (MPH, Northeastern University)
Alex Ollendorf (BS Health Sciences, Northeastern University)
Mercedes Lyson, PhD (Post-doctoral Research Scientist, Northeastern University)
Ashwini Ranade, PhD (PhD Population Health, Northeastern University)
Shreya Singh (MS Computer Science)
Parul Sharma (BS Computer Science, Northeastern University)
Priscilla Baquerizo (BS Computer Science, Northeastern University)
Amanda Carreiro (BS Health Sciences, Northeastern University)
Dana Moore (Visiting CRA-W DREU Student, Winthrop University)
Arushi Singh
Renee Black
Denise Douglas (BS Pharmacy, Northeastern University)
Nur Selin Akbulut (BS Biology, Northeastern University)