Short Bio:
Munmun De Choudhury is an Associate Professor at the School of Interactive Computing in Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. De Choudhury is renowned for her groundbreaking contributions to the fields of computational social science, human-computer interaction, and digital mental health. Through fostering interdisciplinary collaborations across academia, industry, and public health sectors, Dr. De Choudhury and her collaborators have contributed significantly to advancing the development of computational techniques for early detection and intervention in mental health, as well as in unpacking how social media use benefits or harms mental well-being.
De Choudhury's contributions have been recognized worldwide, with significant scholarly impact evidenced by numerous awards like the 2023 SIGCHI Societal Impact Award, the 2023 ICWSM and the 2022 Web Science Trust Test-of-Time Awards, the 2021 ACM-W Rising Star Award, the 2019 Complex Systems Society – Junior Scientific Award, as well as nearly two dozen best paper and honorable mention awards from the ACM and AAAI. Beyond her academic achievements, Dr. De Choudhury is a proactive community leader, a persistent contributor to policy-framing and advocacy initiatives, and is frequently sought for expert advice to governments, and national and international media.
Long Bio:
Munmun De Choudhury is an Associate Professor at the School of Interactive Computing in Georgia Institute of Technology, where she directs the Social Dynamics and Well-Being Laboratory. Broadly, Dr. De Choudhury's research lies at the intersection of computer science and social sciences, focusing on leveraging large-scale data analytics and machine learning to understand human behavior and mental health dynamics in online environments. She is renowned for her groundbreaking contributions to the fields of computational social science, human-computer interaction, and digital mental health. Throughout her career, Dr. De Choudhury has spearheaded numerous pioneering studies examining the intricate relationships between social media activity and mental health outcomes, garnering international acclaim for her innovative methodologies and insightful findings. Her work has led to significant advancements in the development of computational tools and techniques for early detection, intervention, and support in mental health care, fostering interdisciplinary collaborations across academia, industry, and public health sectors.
Dr. De Choudhury is considered a leading national and international voice in digital mental health, and a pioneering researcher and educator. She has been recognized with the 2023 SIGCHI Societal Impact Award, the 2023 ICWSM and the 2022 Web Science Trust Test-of-Time Awards, the 2021 ACM-W Rising Star Award, the 2019 Complex Systems Society – Junior Scientific Award, as well as nearly two dozen best paper and honorable mention awards from professional organizations like the ACM and AAAI. Work from Dr. De Choudhury's lab is also regularly featured in popular press like the New York Times, the NPR, the BBC, and more.
As an accomplished scholar and a leader in the field, Dr. De Choudhury's research has resulted in several practical and policy implications. These range from collaborating with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on suicide prevention, to supporting mental health and gun control advocacy non-profit organizations, and to contributing to a consensus report by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on the impact of social media on the wellbeing of young people. Notably, Dr. De Choudhury was an invited contributor to the Office of U.S. Surgeon General's 2023 Advisory on The Healing Effects of Social Connection and to New York Governor Kathy Hochul's initiative on improving youth mental health services in the state of NY.
Earlier, Dr. De Choudhury was a faculty associate with the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard, a postdoctoral scholar at Microsoft Research, and obtained her PhD in Computer Science from Arizona State University.