Information Sciences and Technology

Informatics doctoral program provides interdisciplinary opportunities for graduates

Informatics doctoral program is offered by the College of Information Sciences and Technology

Westgate Building at University Park is home to the College of Information Sciences and Technology.  Credit: Cole Handerhan / Penn State. Creative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Informatics doctoral program in the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) combines computer and data sciences with the study of people, organizations and communities. The program provides interdisciplinary job outcomes and opportunities for IST students, as demonstrated by three recent graduates.

As they pursued their informatics doctorates in IST, Suhas BN, Hee Jeong Han and Ling Qiu were members of the Wellbeing and Health Innovation (WHI) Lab, which conducts interdisciplinary research at intersection of digital health and human-computer interaction. Saeed Abdullah, associate professor in the College of IST and director of the WHI Lab, served as the students’ doctoral program adviser.

“I have been very fortunate to work with these students,” Abdullah said. “Their Ph.D. research focused on knowledge gaps at the intersection of health, computation and human-computer interaction. The resultant outcomes can have a broad impact in improving health access and clinician training. Their research is inherently interdisciplinary, which reflects the mission of the college to leverage technology for addressing complex societal challenges.”

Suhas BN: Applied scientist, Amazon

Suhas was motivated by personal health challenges to take an academic journey that bridged technology and health care. He earned a bachelor’s degree in electronics and communications from PES University in Bangalore, India, in 2018; a master’s degree in electrical engineering with a focus on signal processing and health from Penn State in 2021; and his doctoral degree in informatics from Penn State in 2025.

Suhas found himself in the unexpected and serendipitous role of instructional assistant in the College of IST. There, he connected with Abdullah to be his master’s thesis adviser on privacy-sensitive speech analysis of depression deploying a machine-learning model on a user’s smartphone. 

“The combination of a positive experience as an instructional assistant in IST and the strong relationship with Dr. Abdullah made continuing for a Ph.D. there a natural step,” Suhas said. “My work in the WHI Lab began with my thesis and evolved with expanding impact.”

The cornerstone of Suhas’s doctoral program was a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation on psychotherapy for war veterans. The work focused on the design of conversational agents for individuals with post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD).

“I created synthetic conversations of various demographics and trauma conditions and worked on how a person would interact with an empathetic chatbot in the context of trauma,” he said.

Alongside this academic work, Suhas completed an internship at Samsung Research, where he worked on cuffless blood pressure monitoring and got a patent. An internship at Amazon on hallucination detection in clinical summarization systems was pivotal for his academic papers and paved the way to his current job.

“Currently, I’m at Amazon working on a project that has significant impact on customer experience by helping them with product selections,” he said. “My long-term goal is to work in a research and development lab with a focus on health.”

Hee Jeong Han: Postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Technology and Behavioral Health (CTBH) at Dartmouth

Han earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering from Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea, in 2017; a master’s degree in computer science with a focus on stress monitoring using wearable sensors from the University of California, Irvine in 2019; and her doctoral degree in informatics from Penn State in 2025.

“I chose my field because I wanted to bring together computer science, artificial intelligence (AI) and human-centered design to make a real impact on people’s mental health and well-being,” Han said. “I was fascinated by how technology — like wearable sensors and AI — could go beyond theory and directly support individuals in their daily lives.”

That led her to focus her research on designing and evaluating digital health interventions, such as conversational agents for PTSD, multimodal AI tools for automatic dementia classification and collaborative financial technology solutions for care partners of individuals with bipolar disorder.

“My goal has always been to pursue a research career where I can continue developing and refining technology-enabled interventions that are both evidence-based and grounded in real-world needs,” Han said. “I see myself collaborating across disciplines to ensure scalable, inclusive and ethically designed digital therapeutics reach and benefit diverse communities.”

Han chose the College of IST for its interdisciplinary research at the intersection of AI, mental health and human-centered design.

“The informatics program gave me the opportunity to work in the WHI Lab with Dr. Abdullah, whose expertise in digital health and AI-driven interventions aligned perfectly with my research interests,” she said. “IST’s collaborative culture and emphasis on applying technology to real-world challenges provided the resources, mentorship and flexibility I needed to design and evaluate digital health tools that support mental health and well-being.”

As a postdoctoral fellow at Dartmouth CTBH, Han is focused on projects that leverage AI, behavioral sensing and data analytics to better understand, predict and support student mental health on college campuses. Following her postdoc, Han hopes to transition into a research institute position where she can lead interdisciplinary projects and build collaborations that advance digital mental health.

“My long-term goal is to develop scalable, ethically grounded and evidence-based interventions that make mental health care more accessible and personalized, particularly for underserved or high-need populations,” she said. “My advice for students considering a Ph.D. in informatics to think about the kind of impact you want your research to have because it’s such an interdisciplinary field. It’s important to find an adviser and a program that not only align with your technical interests but also give you the freedom to collaborate across areas.”

Ling Qiu: Research scientist, Meta

Qiu earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2016, a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Clemson University in 2019 and his doctorate in informatics from Penn State in 2025.

He began his doctoral studies in quantum computing but shifted to informatics to focus more on human-centered technology.

“IST’s interdisciplinary environment was a perfect fit for my interests,” Qiu said. “The program emphasizes real-world impact and brings together researchers from a wide range of fields — engineering, education, communication and the humanities. These diverse perspectives enriched my research and helped me think more holistically about technology’s role in society.

Qiu’s research sits at the intersection of human-computer interaction and digital health intervention design. He has always been driven by the desire to create research with tangible, positive impact — especially in areas that improve human wellbeing.

Working in the WHI Lab gave Qiu the opportunity to design systems that directly support underserved populations.

“Seeing our work positively affect people’s lives — especially those living with chronic conditions — was deeply rewarding,” he said. “Long term, I hope to continue advancing personalized health systems in industry or research settings.”

In the WHI Lab, Qiu focused on designing and developing data-driven, conversational systems to support both physical and mental health. He led projects that use smart speakers to deliver tailored health inventions, one supporting women living with breast cancer and another providing individualized cognitive stimulation therapy for people with dementia.

“These projects have been well-received both in academic circles and among the patient populations we worked with,” Qiu said.

Now, he’s a research scientist at Meta, where he works on state-of-the-art advertising ranking models.

“My team aims to deliver personalized ad experiences to users while maintaining a high-quality overall user experience on the platform,” he said. “Meta is an excellent environment for learning, with access to world-class engineers.”

Looking ahead, Qiu’s long-term goal is to return to the health tech space — ideally working with an innovative company that focuses on improving public health and wellness through technology.

“The College of IST offers a rich, interdisciplinary environment that’s ideal for students who want to make a real-world impact,” Qiu said. “One of the most valuable things I did during my time there was to build relationships with peers and professors from different disciplines—those collaborations provided both academic insight and personal growth.”

Last Updated October 13, 2025

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