Samantha Hirianto is a Graduate Research Intern at the Digital Wellness Lab supporting ongoing research on youth technology use. She is currently pursuing her Master’s in Child Study & Human Development concentrating in Clinical-Developmental Psychology at Tufts University, following a BS in Psychology and Child Study & Human Development, with minors in Dance and Food Systems & Nutrition.
Her research background spans Tufts’ Cognitive Development Lab, where she studied the development of bias and stereotype perception in children, and Oxford University’s Social Foundations Lab, where she translated social-emotional research into developmentally appropriate content for a children’s app. Alongside an honors thesis on loneliness and AI companionship among college students and direct clinical work with children in the PICU and Special Care Nursery, Samantha is especially interested in how media shapes connection and mental health wellbeing across development, especially in helping people build a more mindful relationship with technology.