WHERE INSIGHT LEADS TO INNOVATION
The Socio-Technical Interaction Research (STIR) Lab at ICSI is excited to announce that Dr. Prakriti Dumaru, Postdoctoral Research Scientist, has been selected for the AI x Child Safety Fellowship, co-organized with the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF)! Dumaru was selected from a
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski is serving on the planning committee for an upcoming National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) workshop examining how digital technologies interact with the developing brain. The workshop, “Digital Technologies and the Developing Brain: Insights from
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski and collaborators received an Impact Recognition at CSCW 2026 for their paper, “One Question, Four Voices: How Advice for Alzheimer’s Caregiving Differs Between Caregivers, Clinicians, and Large Language Models.” The research was made possible through a wonderful
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski recently joined Alix Dunn, Kushal Dev, and the team from The Maybe for a podcast interview focused on technology and teens. The conversation explored young people’s experiences with technology and the opportunities and challenges of supporting teens
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski and collaborators’ research on helping teens recognize and respond to cybergrooming was recently featured by Virginia Tech News. The team is developing an AI-powered chatbot that allows teens to safely experience how online interactions can gradually progress
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski was recently featured in an interview with Allowed Online, where she discussed what research tells us about keeping young people safe online while protecting their privacy, autonomy, and trust. Drawing on 15 years of research with teens
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski was featured in MIT Technology Review’s article, “Child-monitoring apps might need a reboot,” which examines how parental-monitoring technologies can affect young people’s safety, privacy, autonomy, and trust. The article highlights Wisniewski’s more than decade-long research on adolescent
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski was featured in a CBC News article examining how location sharing has become part of everyday social life for Gen Z—and the potential privacy and mental-health costs that come with constant connectivity. Wisniewski discussed how location sharing
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski will deliver a keynote at ACM Multimedia 2026 (ACM MM ’26) titled “Safety by Design: Building a Safer Multimedia World for Young People.” Drawing on more than a decade of research on adolescent online safety, Wisniewski will
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski presented an Emerging Leaders lightning talk at the CRA Summit 2026, titled “Safety by Design: Building the Village That Protects and Empowers Youth Online.” Drawing on more than a decade of research on adolescent online safety, Wisniewski
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski was featured on Morning Wave in Busan, Korea, for a special interview on the growing debate surrounding social media bans for young people. During the interview, Wisniewski discussed why blanket restrictions may overlook young people’s lived experiences,
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski is co-organizing the CSCW 2026 workshop, “Where Does Privacy Research Go From Here? Navigating the Challenges and Paths Forward,” taking place on October 10, 2026. The workshop brings together privacy researchers, practitioners, policymakers, advocates, and other stakeholders
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski and Dr. Elizabeth A. Sweigart have published a new peer-reviewed book chapter, “Decentralized Governance for Youth Online Safety: Open Innovation, Digital Democracy, and Federated Social Media.” The chapter asks a broader question about youth online safety: What
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski virtually presented at the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Symposium for Employee Engagement and Development (SEED) as part of its Digital Force Protection theme. Her talk, “Cognitive Resilience in the Digital Age: SHIELDing Families from Online Risks,”
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski was recently featured in the American Psychological Association’s Monitor on Psychology in an article examining “sharenting”—the practice of parents and caregivers sharing photos, videos, and other information about their children online. The article explores how these everyday
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski recently led and presented, SHIELD, a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Information Science and Technology (ISAT) study focused on an emerging challenge at the intersection of artificial intelligence, human behavior, and national security. Wisniewski co-led the
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski delivered a Test of Time Award Keynote at NDSS Symposium 2026, reflecting on resilience, bravery, and the research journey behind her work on adolescent online safety. Drawing a connection between her research and her own experience with
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski joined the Revolution.Social Podcast to discuss why banning young people from social media may not be the answer to protecting them online. In the conversation, Wisniewski challenges access-restriction approaches to youth online safety, arguing that blanket bans
The Socio-Technical Interaction Research (STIR) Lab at ICSI is excited to welcome Dr. Prakriti Dumaru as a Postdoctoral Scholar! Dumaru earned her Ph.D. in Computer Science from Utah State University, where her dissertation, “A Value Sensitive Design Approach to Reimagining
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski joined Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development for its Get Screen Smart webinar, focused on the essential technology knowledge parents and caregivers need to help young people navigate digital spaces. Wisniewski discussed digital
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski contributed expert guidance to the new Children and Screens Guide for Childhood Development and Media Use: Adolescence (Ages 11–18), a research-based resource designed to help parents and caregivers support adolescents’ well-being, growing autonomy, and healthy relationships with
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski received the Test of Time Award at the 16th Symposium on Usable Security & Privacy (USEC 2026) for her CSCW 2017 paper, “Parental Control vs. Teen Self-Regulation: Is There a Middle Ground for Mobile Online Safety?” The
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski has accepted an invitation to serve as a Non-Resident Fellow with the Algorithmic Fairness and Opacity Working Group (AFOG) at the UC Berkeley School of Information. AFOG brings together scholars across computer science, law, sociology, and the
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski, along with Dr. Liz Sweigart and Aahil Valliani, co-authored a Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) article, “Pause, Reflect, and Redirect: Helping Youth Make Better Digital Choices.” The article presents the Pause, Reflect, and Redirect (PRR) framework
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski co-organized the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Visioning Workshop on “Supporting At-Risk Users Through Responsible Computing,” alongside Katie Siek, Tammy Toscos, Sunny Consolvo, and Kevin Butler. The workshop brought together 49 researchers and practitioners from academia, industry, and
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski joined Rabble Evan Henshaw-Plath on the Revolution.Social podcast to discuss what it really takes to make the internet safer for teens. The conversation explored why parental control apps and restrictive approaches often fall short, what teens say
Wisniewski Joins ICSI Dr. Pamela Wisniewski has joined the International Computer Science Institute (ICSI) as a Principal Research Scientist. She is also the Founder and Director of the Socio-Technical Interaction Research (STIR) Lab and Teenovate. Wisniewski’s interdisciplinary research lies at
Dr. Pamela Wisniewski joined researchers, advocates, and policymakers at Public Knowledge for a discussion on building a safer and healthier internet for children and teens. The event centered on Public Knowledge’s report, The Kids Aren’t Alright Online: How To Build