Veronica Ahumada-Newhart (discussant)
Veronica Ahumada-Newhart will discuss Social Robots and Children’s Fundamental Rights: A Dynamic Four-Component Framework for Research, Development, and Deployment at 3:45pm on Friday, September 24th at #werobot.
Dr. Newhart received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Education from the University of California, Irvine. She completed her M.Ed. in Adult Education from the University of Georgia and her B.A. in English Language and Literature from Loma Linda University. Prior to beginning her doctoral work, Dr. Newhart was a public health leader in her role as Director of Oral Health programs for the state of Montana. Her work in oral health supported key measures of Montana’s Title V Maternal and Child Health block grant and developed strong collaborations with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
She is an NIH funded postdoctoral fellow in UC Irvine’s Institute for Clinical Translational Science. Her research is focused on the use of interactive technologies (e.g., telepresence robots) to establish or augment social connectedness for improved health, academic, and social outcomes. Her research encompasses strong interdisciplinary efforts between UCI’s School of Medicine, School of Education, Department of Informatics, and Department of Cognitive Sciences. Her research interests include child health and human development, virtual inclusion, human-computer interaction, human-robot interaction, and emerging technologies that facilitate learning, human development, and social connectedness.