Author: Abdulmalik Alluhidan

We are thrilled to announce the outstanding achievements of our recent graduates and our postdoctoral fellow as they embark on exciting new chapters in their academic careers. Each of these scholars has secured prestigious tenure-track Assistant Professor positions at renowned

In a recent article for CNN Health, Dr. Wisniewski emphasized the importance of empowering youth with informed choices rather than restrictive measures, stressing the need for solutions that balance risks and benefits. She advocated for avoiding fear-based or restrictive approaches,

Congratulations to Dr. Xavier Caddle on the successful defense of his doctoral dissertation. Dr. Caddle will be joining the Computer Science department at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) as a visiting professor. We are immensely proud of his achievements and

Congratulations to Dr. Zainab Agha on successfully defending her doctoral dissertation entitled, “Co-designing & Evaluating Adolescent Online Safety Nudges with Teens.” We are extremely proud of her accomplishments and wish her continued success in her career!

Congratulations to our postdoctorate Dr. Jinkyung (Katie) Park for winning the prestigious 2024 iSchools Doctoral Dissertation Award! Dr. Park’s dissertation has been recognized for its innovative research and significant contribution to the field of information science. The iSchools Doctoral Dissertation

Congratulations to Dr. Mamtaj Akter on successfully defending her doctoral dissertation entitled, “Leveraging Community Oversight to Promote Mobile Privacy and Security Within Trusted Communities.” Dr. Akter will begin a tenure-track Assistant Professor position next fall in the Computer Science Department at

Congratulations to our director, Dr. Pamela Wisniewski, who has been named to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Information Science and Technology (ISAT) study group. This prestigious appointment involves assessing future research directions in computer science. Dr. Wisniewski’s inclusion

Congratulations to Dr. Ashwaq Alsoubai on successfully defending her doctoral dissertation entitled, “A Human-Centered Approach to Improving Adolescent Real-Time Online Risk Detection Algorithms.” Dr. Alsoubai will be starting an Assistant Professor position in the Computer Science Department at King Abdulaziz University

Congratulations to our recent PhD graduate Dr. Alsoubai and her advisor Dr. Pamela Wisniewski for showcasing their work on the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) blog. The blog discusses the challenges youth face in the digital world, focusing on

Congratulations to Dr. Wisniewski for being awarded a Secure and Trustworthy Computing (SaTC) National Science Foundation (NSF) grant entitled, “Collaborative Research: SaTC: CORE: Medium: Using Intelligent Conversational Agents to Empower Adolescents to be Resilient Against Cybergrooming,” under the Computer and

Our PhD candidate Zainab Agha is giving a talk as part of LIVE Sprak weekly talks at Vanderbilt University. The talk will take place this Wednesday, April 3rd, and will be about incorporating human-centered design practices in research. Zainab Agha

Congratulations to STIR Lab undergraduate students Yiwei Wang, Enya Bullard, and Abbie Chen on presenting their research titled “Designing a Social Media Simulation to Evaluate Online Safety Nudges” at the Vanderbilt Undergraduate Research Fair, mentored by PhD candidate Zainab Agha. The Vanderbilt

Congratulations to Xavier Caddle, Jinkyung Park, and Pamela Wisniewski on their recent paper publication at the Future of Information and Communication Conference (FICC). The Paper explores strategies for online youth protection, drawing on interviews with 38 stakeholders in the field.

In a recent blog post for the Imagining the Digital Future Center, Dr. Pamela Wisniewski shared concerns about regulating AI without clear definitions, citing a 2023 White House initiative on AI Accountability and related lawsuits. She emphasized the critical role

Warm congratulations to Campbell Headrick, our Master’s student, on the successful defense of his thesis, “Youth Discussions of Security and Privacy.” With this achievement, Campbell becomes the first lab Master’s student to defend his thesis at Vanderbilt University.

Dr. Pamela Wisniewski participated as a key expert in the “Copycat: Social Contagion, Online Viral Behavior, and Youth” webinar hosted by Children and Screens. The webinar aimed to enlighten parents and caregivers on the susceptibility of youth to social contagion,

Congratulations to Dr. Pamela Wisniewski on being a part of a White House panel hosted by the Task Force on Kids Online Health and Safety. The panel hosted several other distinguished panelists and was also attended by the Surgeon General

Congratulations to the STIR Lab researchers and their collaborators on getting five full papers conditionally accepted at CHI 2024. The papers’ titles, abstracts, and authors are as follows: “I’m gonna KMS”: From Imminent Risk to Youth Joking about Suicide and Self-Harm

The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) has announced that Dr. Pamela Wisniewski will be joining their Non-Resident Fellows Program. Dr. Wisniewski will join eight other distinguished researchers from diverse organizations and backgrounds, highlighting the far-reaching influence of technology on

Dr. Pamela Wisniewski participated as a panelist at the Harvard Undergraduate UNICEF Club Conference: ‘Empowering Humanity.’ The conference aims to enlighten, foster reflective thinking, and spark discussions on the educational obstacles encountered by countless children globally. It also explores the

Congratulations to Dr. Pamela Wisniewski who has contributed to a newly published book, titled “Trolley Crash: Approaching Key Metrics for Ethical AI Practitioners, Researchers, and Policy Makers” as one of the chapter authors. She collaborated on the third chapter, “Boiling

Congratulations to our Ph.D. candidate Ashwaq Alsoubai for getting accepted into the ELEVATE leadership program at Vanderbilt University next Spring. The ELEVATE program provides a collaborative environment for senior students to explore critical leadership concepts and skills.

Congratulations to Naima Ali, Zainab Agha, Neeraj Chatlani, Jinkyung Park, and Pamela Wisniewski on their recent CHI case study acceptance. The case study involved working with seven teens (15-17 years old) in a Youth Advisory Board program for over a

Congratulations to our Ph.D. student Leena Alghamdi on passing her Candidacy Exam for Ph.D. in Computer Engineering at the University of Central Florida. The Candidacy Exam is the second milestone in the Ph.D. program in which the Graduate Committee evaluates

Congratulations to Stirlab Undergraduate student Andy Niser who presented MoSafely study poster at the Vanderbilt Undergraduate Research Fair. He shared insights about the MOSafely Stakeholder Project and some of the major findings.

“Kids making threats at school is nothing new, what’s so concerning now is the speed and scale others on social media promote these behaviors,”  Dr. Wisniewski talks to FOX 35 about a recent incident in Florida involving an 11 years

Congratulations to our Ph.D. student Xavier Caddle on passing his Candidacy Exam for Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Central Florida. The Candidacy Exam is the second milestone in the Ph.D. program in which the Graduate Committee evaluates

Congratulations to STIR lab PhD candidate Zainab Agha for earning her lab mug gift! Receiving a mug from the lab is a tradition that the lab does to honor students who successfully published the first study in their dissertation.