Hi there!

I'm Aakanksha.

I'm a PhD student at the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo. I'm supervised by Dr. Edith Law in the human-computer interaction (HCI) lab.

My research is in human-AI interaction, and I am interested in ways that AI literacy, co-design, and evaluation shape one another, particularly in healthcare contexts. Currently, I'm exploring ways that AI literacy can be used as a tool for participatory AI design.

During my masters, I developed a virtual patient system for medical learners to improve their clinical communication skills. Previously, I've worked on understanding the capabilities and limitations of AI (i.e., VLMs, LLMs, CV) in clinical settings for underserved communities with the AI4Good lab, Simpson Lab, Bumblekite summer school, and Dr. Kathleen Fraser. I have also done some research in mathematical epidemiology with Dr. Matthew Betti and formal methods with Dr. Laurie Ricker.

Outside of research, I enjoy playing my guitar, crocheting/knitting, and weightlifting.