Naveena Karusala

Naveena Karusala is an Assistant Professor in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech. Her research focuses on centering care work in AI design to create sustainable futures in healthcare and social services. She holds a PhD from the University of Washington and a BS from Georgia Tech. She currently serves as Vice President for Communications on the ACM SIGCHI Executive Committee, fostering global HCI community engagement. Her work integrates critical theory to address issues of class, caste, gender, and race, prioritizing marginalized communities' knowledge in participatory design processes.

Education:

• PhD in Computer Science, University of Washington
• Bachelor's in Computer Science, Georgia Tech

Research Interests: Her interdisciplinary research explores human-centered AI, healthcare equity, and social justice. Key areas include contestable AI systems, participatory design with marginalized communities, and decolonizing technology practices. She emphasizes ethical AI frameworks that recognize care labor and structural inequities.

Awards & Recognition: Her work has been recognized at ACM CHI and ACM CSCW for contributions to HCI and social good initiatives.

Advising & Grants: She mentors students through Georgia Tech's PhD programs in Human-Centered Computing and Computer Science. She prioritizes applicants with experience in HCI, public health, and community-engaged research. Current Georgia Tech students can engage through research credits or funded projects.

Labs & Teams: Collaborates with global community organizations and the Harvard Center for Research on Computation and Society (as a former postdoc). Her work emphasizes solidarity-driven research across borders and intersections of identity.