Hi!

I am Ananya Bhattacharjee, a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at the University of Toronto. I study, design, and build interactive, AI-driven interventions that can dynamically adapt to the individual and social contexts of users. These interventions broadly aim to promote psychosocial wellbeing—the overall state of an individual’s mental, emotional, and social health. Drawing on insights from surveys, interviews, and field experiments, I design interventions that employ generative AI and reinforcement learning to adaptively support users' evolving needs and contexts. The interventions I deploy can take many forms, including web platforms that simulate peer support, mobile applications that promote reflection or assist in managing stress, and text messaging programs that alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety.

My advisor is Dr Joseph Jay Williams. My PhD committee members also include Dr Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed, Dr Alex Mariakakis, Dr Rachel Kornfield, and Dr Mary Czerwinski.

I am entering the job market this year, seeking tenure-track academic and industry researcher positions. 

Highlights & Impact:

• I have published 14 first-authored papers (20+ total) in venues such as CHI, CSCW, TOCHI, AAAI HCOMP, and JMIR. My work has been recognized with one Best Paper Award and two Best Paper Honorable Mention Awards at CHI. These publications and others have earned me various fellowships, including Schwartz Reisman Graduate Fellowship, Wolfond Fellowship, and Inlight Research Fellowship.

• I contributed to the development of the Small Steps SMS program — a two-month intervention to help people manage anxiety and depression symptoms — which has reached over 5,000 users in North America. Shortened versions and modular components of the intervention have been deployed to another 5,000 users. This collaboration involved the University of Toronto, Northwestern University, Microsoft Research, and Mental Health America.

• I designed and launched several large-scale online interventions that have supported over 2,000 students in the Greater Toronto area in achieving academic goals and improving psychological wellbeing.

• My research on personalizing the communication traits of conversational agents has been directly applied by Microsoft AI to incorporate personality traits into Copilot.  Additionally, this work has influenced the user interaction features in other Microsoft products, including Xbox.

• My research on digital support interactions has driven policy changes at two major helplines: Partnership to End Addiction in the USA and Kaan Pete Roi in Bangladesh.