Hi there!

I'm Aakanksha.

I'm a MMath 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.

I'm broadly interested in using tools & techniques from HCI and AI to improve health equity. I would like to explore ways that AI can help strengthen doctor-patient relationships, and develop new approaches to evaluate healthcare AI for that goal. I am also interested in understanding the practical and ethical limitations of clinical AI systems for real-world use.

My master's thesis work focuses on developing an educational simulated patient system that medical learners can interact with to improve their clinical communication skills, and thus (hopefuly) health outcomes for real patients. 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.