Principal Investigator
Prof. Shital Desai
W School of Arts Media Performance and Design
Discover York Academics Profile
EDUCATION
PhD, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
Interaction Design; Systems Design; Humanity Centred Design; Ageing and Technology; Designing for Children and Youth; Health and Wellbeing; Planetary Health
BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Shital Desai is an Associate Professor in Interaction Design at the School of Arts, Media, Performance & Design and York Research Chair in Accessible Interaction Design at York University. She heads the CFI funded Social and Technological Systems (SaTS) lab where she engages in research that focusses on UN Sustainable Development Goals of improving health and wellbeing of people. To that extent, she cocreates accessible technologies, services and governance policies for marginalised people and global health using Design Research methods, as she believes that these go hand in hand for a sustainable healthcare system. Shital is a member of the WHO Dementia Knowledge Exchange peer review network where she shares her expert knowledge on dementia and technology in strengthening policies, service planning and health and social care systems for dementia. She is passionate about training students in Systems Design and Design thinking methods to address societal issues around accessibility and inclusivity. Shital is the recipient of several awards and grants, including 2021-22 AMPD Research award, Petro Canada Young Innovator Award and tri-council grants – SSHRC, CIHR and NSERC. She received NSERC Discovery grant in 2021 to design and develop adaptive assistive technologies for people with dementia.
Research Assistants/Co-ops/ Interns
Dohyoung Kim, Digital Media Program, York University - RAY RA
Syed Haider, EECS, York University - RAY RA
Current Graduate Students
- 2024 - 2025 Rachel Remesat, MA, Computational Arts, School of Arts Media Performance and Design, York University
- 2024 - 2025 Trinity Leon, MDes, Design, School of Arts Media Performance and Design, York University
- 2024 - 2025 Dorsa, MA, Computational Arts, School of Arts Media Performance and Design, York University
- 2024 - 2027 Rupsha Mutsuddi, PhD, School of Global Health, York University
Alumni
Postdoctoral Fellows
2022 - 2023 Kamila Kolpashnikova, VISTA Postdoctoral Fellow 2024 - 2025 Somang Nam, Connected Minds Postdoctoral Fellow
Graduate Students
2024 Monique Andrea, MA-Design Research, York University 2022 - 2024 Joey Wong, MDes Graduate student, York University 2022 - 2024 Rupsha Mutsuddi, MDes, York University 2022 - 2023 Eve-Lareine Dandan, MA-Design Research, York University
Research Assistants/Co-ops/ Interns
2023 - 2024 Rupsha Mutsuddi, MDes Graduate student, York University - RA
2023 Vyjayanthi Janakiraman, BDes undergraduate student, School of AMPD, York University - RAY RA
2022 - 2023 Hyunju Park, Digital Media undergraduate student, School of AMPD, York University - RAY RA
2023 Hannah Palmier Blizzard, BDes undergraduate student, York University - RAY RA
2023 Nicole Nguyen, BDes undergraduate student, School of AMPD, York University
2023 Benjamin Giannis, BDes undergraduate student, School of AMPD, York University
2023 Samantha Loiselle, BDes undergraduate student, School of AMPD, York University
2020 - 2022 Jasmine Plumb, BDes, York University
2019 Zornitsa Stoimenova, BDes undergraduate student, School of AMPD, York University
2019 Elaine Baladio, Kinesiology and Biology, Faculty of Health, York University
2019 Saadia Riaz, Faculty of Health, York University
2022 - 2023 Isabella Alonso, MScOT, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto
2022 - 2023 Sabiha Meer, MScOT, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto
2022 - 2023 Eliora Sy Wee, MScOT, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto
2022 - 2023 Awa Favero, MScOT, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto
2021 - 2022 Vanessa Tam, MScOT, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto
2021 - 2022 Emily Newton, MScOT, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto
2021 - 2022 Erin Kirk, MScOT, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto
2021 - 2022 Katie Newton, MScOT, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto
2020 - 2021 Adrienne Baker, MScOT, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto
2020 - 2021 Nicole Filler, MScOT, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto
2020 - 2021 Kellie Lothiaphing, MScOT, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto
2020 - 2021 Tamara Wong, MScOT, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto
2019- 2020 Abhinayaa Jeyapragash, MScOT, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto
2019- 2020 Thusanthy Gunaseelan, MScOT, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto
2019- 2020 Stephanie Moore, MScOT, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto
2019- 2020 Alison To, MScOT, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto
