Georgia Tech
I am a Principal Research Scientist in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech, as well as the Director of Translational Research for AI-CARING.
Over the past 13 years, I have been collaborating with computing colleagues to forge a new interdisciplinary research area at the intersection of computing and psychology, which we call computational behavioral science. The research vision is to transform the measurement, analysis, and understanding of health-related behaviors by leveraging advances in sensing, wearable and mobile technologies, and computational analysis methods. The ultimate goal is to develop tools that can lead to better detection, monitoring, and treatment of a variety of chronic health conditions.
One key area my research has focused on is understanding early trajectories and predictors of social communication in children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. I am applying novel computational methods to longitudinal measures of communication behavior to understand different pathways to language in ASD. More recently, through AI-CARING, my research interests have expanded to include a focus on Mild Cognitive Impairment, with an eye toward understanding how artificial intelligence can be leveraged to track cognitive and functional decline in everyday activities, to deliver appropriate in-situ supports for individuals with MCI to maintain independence and quality of life, and to support their care networks.