Principal Investigator

Carissa A. Low, PhD

Google Scholar
Dr. Low received her PhD in clinical and health psychology from UCLA in 2008 and completed her clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Department of Psychiatry.  Her research focuses on interactions between behavior, biology, and patient-centered outcomes in the context of cancer. She is particularly interested in the use of mobile technology to monitor and change health behaviors and symptoms during cancer treatment.  Her work has been funded by the National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Mental Health, Pittsburgh Health Data Alliance, UPMC Aging Institute, and Sony Corporation.

Program Manager

Krina Durica, MA

​Krina Durica received her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and her Master of Arts degree in Applied Psychological Research from Penn State University. She is currently working towards a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. Before joining Dr. Low’s lab, Krina worked as a Research Coordinator at Penn State Hershey managing social skills projects for adolescents and young adults with high-functioning autism.

Research Coordinators

Leeann Chen, MPS

Leeann Chen received her master's in Information Science from Cornell University. Previously she worked as a User Experience Designer at IQVIA building virtual clinical trials. Leeann is particularly interested in how digital learning systems for emotional intelligence can mitigate the impact of trauma on development.

Now hiring!

Learn more about the Research Coordinator position and apply at https://cfopitt.taleo.net/careersection/jobdetail.ftl?job=22000036

Software Engineer

Weiyu Huang

Weiyu is currently a student in the Master of Science in Information Science program at the University of Pittsburgh. He previously earned his Bachelor’s degree at Michigan State University, majoring in Computer Science with a Mathematics minor. Weiyu sees himself as a full-stack software developer and looks forward to gaining experience in the data science field.

Data Scientist

Meng Li, MS

Meng Li received her Master of Science degree in Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh. She is interested in applying machine learning algorithms to the medical field.

Now hiring!

Learn more about the Data Scientist position and apply at https://bit.ly/MoSHIdatascientist

Research Assistants

Andrew Chuang

Andrew is currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree at Carnegie Mellon University. He is studying Statistics and Human-Computer Interaction with a minor in Computational Biology. With experience working at hospitals here and back home, he is interested in exploring the applications of human-centered data science in the medical field. 

Nikita Kalathur

Nikita is a junior pursuing a Bachelor’s degree at the University of Pittsburgh. She is majoring in psychology on the pre-med track. Nikita is interested in the application of technology in the mental health field and has had previous experience with patient care and research on infant motor skills.​

Grace Lyall

Grace is a junior pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. After graduation, she is planning on earning her B.S. in Nursing through a dual-degree program and eventually gaining her CRNP specializing in Psychiatry. Her interests include all aspects of the mental health field, particularly eating disorder and substance abuse treatment. She has experience in patient care working as a Student Behavior Associate in the General Adult Unit at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital. 

Kailee O'Connor

Kailee is a senior pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Pittsburgh. She is majoring in psychology and hoping to attend graduate school to get her Ph.D. in psychology. Kailee is interested in how mental and physical health can benefit from the use of mobile devices. She also has previous experience with patient care and research on stroke and aphasia as well as dyslexia and learning. 

Hersh Parikh

Hersh is a sophomore year at the University of Pittsburgh pursuing a bachelor’s degree. Hersh is majoring in computational biology and is on the pre-med track. Before joining the BOT lab Hersh has had patient interaction experience through volunteering at his local hospital and has had python programing experience through his undergraduate classes.

Anthony Zygmunt

Anthony is a sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh studying Microbiology on the pre-med track. Anthony has previous experience in volunteering at UPMC facilities and a passion for biology and patient care.

Medical Students

Elizabeth Kairis

Liz Kairis received her Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular Genetics from Ohio State University in 2020. She is currently pursuing a medical degree from Pitt Med.  She has previously worked in basic science labs related to HIV and oncology, and she is excited to learn more about oncology research from the clinical perspective.

Sean McClaine

Sean McClaine received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University in 2020. He is currently pursuing a medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh's School of Medicine. He has previously worked on the design and testing of a vibrating wearable device that aimed to normalize unstable breathing patterns in preterm infants.

Computer and Information Science Interns

Abhishek Verma

Abhishek is currently pursuing his Masters in Information Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh. He holds a Bachelor of Technology in Electronics and Communication Engineering from VIT University, India. He has two years of experience as an undergraduate researcher working on deep neural networks for application in facial emotion recognition and speech recognition, with his research work published in international conferences and journals. Being passionate about machine learning and data analytics, he has deeply involved himself in applying his theoretical knowledge in developing and analyzing solutions for real world problems affecting humanity.

Zixuan Zhu

Zixuan is currently a student in the Master of Science in Information Science program at the University of Pittsburgh. He previously earned his Bachelor’s degree at the University of Washington, majoring in Mathematics. Zixuan sees himself as a data analyst, pursuing to apply his knowledge of mathematics and statistics into real world problems. He is looking forward to gaining experience in the machine learning and data science field.

Lab Alumni

Kwesi Aguillera
​​Alberto Barrientos
​​Bles​sy Bellamy
​Hannah Bitzer
​Carolyn Brown
Samantha Buccina
​Michaela Danko
​Lia Farrell
Umeka Ganjoo
Nikunj Goel
​Sonal Gupta
Monica Henderson
Carly Jones
Echhit Joshi
​Kirtiraj Khandekar
​Abhineeth Reddy Kunta
​Eddie Lasker
Nicolas Leo
​Mariah Mascara
Erin McPherson
​Ruchika Moturi
Stephanie Nam
Alexa Rieger
​Lillian Smith
​Lindsay Snider
​Julio Vega
​Stephen Worrall
​Elynna Youm
​Jenny Zhang
Nika Zharichenko

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