Prakriti Dumaru

Biography

Prakriti Dumaru, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at ICSI, where she is a member of Pamela Wisniewski’s Socio-Technical Interaction Research (STIR) Group. Her research lies at the intersection of human-computer interaction (HCI), online safety, and social computing, with a focus on designing and evaluating family-centered technologies that support positive digital parenting and children’s safe and autonomous technology use.

Dr. Dumaru earned her PhD in Computer Science from Utah State University, where her dissertation applied a value-sensitive design approach to reimagining parental control tools. Her work explored how digital systems can better support family wellbeing while balancing children’s autonomy, safety, and developmental needs.

Her research has addressed topics including developmentally appropriate design, co-parenting technologies, online safety, and digital wellbeing for families with neurodiverse children. She has published and presented her work at leading human-computer interaction venues, including ACM CHI and CSCW.

At ICSI, Dr. Dumaru’s current research explores human-centered and responsible AI, with a particular focus on the safe and developmentally appropriate use of large language model-based tools by children and families.

Publications

Selected Honors & Awards

• Doctoral Research Support Fellowship, Utah State University
• Graduate Student Travel Award, NSF
• Graduate Student Travel Award, Utah State University
• Grace Hopper Scholarship, Google Anita Borg
• College Fellowship Scholarship, Pulchowk Campus, Tribhuvan University
• TU Program Topper, Tribhuvan University
• Ncell Excellence Award, Ncell
• Ncell Scholarships, Ncell
• Presidential Education Award, Respected President of Nepal
• Mahatma Gandhi Scholarship, Indian Embassy

Areas of Expertise

• AI Safety, Alignment, and Trustworthiness
• AI in Education, Learning Technologies, and EdTech
• Text Analytics: Sentiment Analysis, Summarization, Topic Modeling
• Usable Security and Privacy by Design
• Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) and Interaction Design
• User Experience (UX), Usability, and Interface Design
• Accessibility, Inclusive Design, and Assistive Technologies
• Collaborative Systems, Social Computing, and CSCW
• Human-AI Interaction and Trust in AI Systems
• Digital Wellbeing, Behavior-Aware Computing, and Ethical Design
• Social Media Platforms, Online Communities, and Digital Culture
• AI Ethics, Responsible AI, and Governance of Technology

ICSI Activity