Fall 2022 Research Group

Peter Graham (Research Assistant, Duke Law)

Peter Graham is a student at Duke Law School passionate about privacy and harmonizing emerging technologies with democratic governance. Peter’s studies at Duke have focused on privacy, data governance, artificial intelligence, ethical technology, cybersecurity, and data breach response. Prior to law school, he worked as a litigation paralegal and a practice area coordinator for multinational law firms. Peter attended Boston College where he completed his B.A. in Political Science and International Studies. He is a dual citizen of the United States and Colombia. Peter is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US).

• Institution focus: Office of Science and Technology Policy, Global Privacy Assembly
• issue focus: AI Bill of Rights
• Region focus: North America

Sandra Lattner (Research Assistant: University of Vienna)

Sandra Lattner is a PhD candidate and researcher at the Department of Communication at the University of Vienna (Austria). Her research focuses on the role of policy regulation processes with a specific focus on the ethical aspects, child rights and digital literacy in the context of artificial intelligence and young people. 

Sandra Lattner completed her Master's and Bachelor's degree at the Department of Communication of the University of Vienna. In 2017/18 Sandra worked as a teaching assistant of Univ.-Prof. Dr. Maximilian Gottschlich at the Department of Communication for the lectures Media Theory, Media Ethic and Health Communication. After her Master's degree, she was involved in research projects for participation of young people and digital transformation.

• Institution focus: European Institutions
• Issue focus: AI and Children, Gender
• Region focus: Europe

Somaieh Nikpoor (Research Fellow, Canada)

Somaieh Nikpoor is a lead for AI Strategy working for the Federal Government of Canada. She works at the intersection of AI, data, analytics and policy to help drive real, tangible results. She designs AI and analytics road maps based on organizational readiness and supports various policy initiatives on data and AI. Prior to her current role, Somaieh worked as a research advisor for AI and machine learning at Research and Innovation Unit residing at the Federal Government of Canada where she was experimenting with machine learning models to explore whether these models could be used to improve service delivery. She has more than 10 years of experience in conceptualizing business problems into analytics projects. Somaieh holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Ottawa. She is passionate about AI ethics and is currently collaborating with non-profit organizations and startups to curates and generates original content that will help others navigate through various AI ethics topics and concepts. Somaieh has received the CAIDP AI Policy certification with distinction. and the CAIDP AI Policy - Advanced certification with distinction, and was named a CAIDP Fellow in 2022.

Jiaqi Tan (Research Assistant, Georgetown Law)

Jiaqi Tan is a candidate for the LLM program at Georgetown University (received the Merit Scholar award).  After obtaining her Bachelor of Laws, she passed the Bar Examination in China.  As an intern, Jiaqi Tan worked for several American and Chinese law firms, as well as Chinese government agencies. In addition, she was a Research Assistant at Georgetown Law focusing on the comparison of international privacy laws.  In her university days, she published two papers about protecting personal information, organized two legal projects related to it, and received the National Scholarship. She has also volunteered in Sri Lanka and Huaihua to help women, children, and the elderly who have been mistreated.

• Issue focus: Smart contracts
• Institution focus: Global Privacy Assembly
• Region focus: East Asia 

Yingjian Xie (Research Assistant, Georgetown Law)

Yingjian Xie is an LL.M. candidate at Georgetown Law after obtaining a Bachelor of Laws in China. She is passionate about data privacy and AI development. While in law school, she conducted a research on data storage in an analysis of lawsuits that involved administrative bodies about how to avoid legal risks. She insists on improving research and writing skills with several internship experience in law firms related to capital market and litigation. Yingjian also passed national bar examination of China, securities and fund practice qualification examination. Her areas of interest in research are artificial intelligence ethics and policy. She makes an effort to learn more about data privacy and fintech laws in the hopes of improving the AI development.

• Issue focus: Smart contracts
• Institution focus: Global Privacy Assembly
• Region focus: East Asia

Larissa Zutter, CAIDP Fellow

(Region - Africa)

Larissa Zutter is a Swiss research fellow and board member at the Center for AI and Digital Policy. Previously, she has worked for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS in the Fundraising, Programme Partnerships and Innovations Department as well as the Michael Dukakis Institute for Leadership and Innovation.

She has a bachelors degree in Economics, Business and Political Science from the University of Basel. Her research in her bachelors degree focused on sustainability in investment management as well as European Union data protection policy. She is currently enrolled in a dual masters degree in International Security and International Political Economy at Sciences Po and the London School of Economics.  At Sciences Po she was chosen to be a student speaker and panelist for the Youth and Leaders Summit 2022 where she spoke on equality in cyberspace and AI fairness. Larissa has received the CAIDP AI Policy certification with distinction. and the CAIDP AI Policy - Advanced certification with distinction, and was named a CAIDP Fellow in 2021.

Tina Lassiter (Germany)

Tina Lassiter is a former German lawyer with an LL.M. from the Tulane Law School. Before moving to the United States, she worked for a law firm in Germany as well as for the legal headquarters of Commerzbank AG, and specialized in Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law. Currently, she is pursuing her PhD degree at the University of Texas at Austin in Information Studies with a specialization in AI and Ethics, working as a researcher at the School of Information and within the Good Systems Core Research Program “Making Smart Tools Work for Everyone”. In the spring and summer of 2022, she interned with the Responsible AI Institute (RAII), specializing in AI and Hiring as well as gaining insights into the Responsible AI Certification process offered by RAII. She has a strong interest in the intersection of AI and technology, and in particular in AI policy.

Davor Ljubenkov (Belgium)

Davor Ljubenkov is EU Public Policy Affairs Junior Executive for AI and Emerging Tech at Fujitsu Belgium, but also a Brussels based fellow in the fields of ethical AI policymaking, innovation and technology management. His formal education is rooted in interdisciplinary computer science, mainly immersive virtual environments and data analytics.

He obtained a double MSc. in Data Science, Innovation and Entrepreneurship as a joint graduate at TU Eindhoven, KTH Stockholm and MIT Senseable City Lab, with a special focus on machine learning, neural networks and data visualization in the context of smart cities. His second joint MSc. in Digital Technology Management and Digital Communication Leadership was successfully achieved at Salzburg University, AAU Copenhagen, VUB (AI Experience Center) and UCLA (Ed&IS, Digital Cultures Lab). Main research area of this joint degree was ethical AI governance, public policy innovation and regulation of digital technologies.

Over the years he also experienced working in management consulting, sustainability, youth policies, transatlantic relations and digital transformation, while acting as an SDG ambassador, UN ECOSOC Youth Forum delegate and a Board member of EIT Digital Alumni Community."

Mélissa M’Raidi-Kechichian (Canada) 


Mélissa graduated from the Université du Québec à Montréal in 2020 with a Bachelor’s in Arts, majoring in Linguistics. Passionate about political science and law, she was a junior researcher for the Post-Soviet Quebec Network at the Montreal Institute of International Studies. She focused on disinformation on social media and online propaganda, as well as the impact of digital policies on activists in Russia and in the United States, using a comparative approach. During her time at university, Mélissa was involved in student associations, community organizing, and institutional and non-institutional activism. Her previous work experience mainly took place in the non-profit sector. She currently works independently at the intersection of democracy, technology, and activism, focusing on how digital spaces can be used by everyday citizens to bring meaningful and lasting change to their community. Prior to her current position, she worked as a research assistant, and was a coordinator at a national non-profit research center. Mélissa speaks fluent French, English, Spanish, and Russian.

Samantha Msipa (South Africa)

Samantha Msipa is currently pursuing an LL.M in International Commercial Law at the University of Johannesburg. Her focus was on International contracts of sale and property. She obtained her Bachelor of Laws from the Nelson Mandela University. Her research interests lie in tech policy regulation and wide topics related to emerging technologies and their impact in our society. 

Ananya Ramani (Thailand)

Ananya Ramani is Advocacy Director at Safe Place International. She is an international human rights lawyer and policy researcher with a focus on business & human rights as well as digital rights, in South and Southeast Asia. With a Masters in International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law from the Geneva Academy, she has worked directly with grassroots communities; national, regional and international civil society organisations; the judiciary; and in developing policy for the government. Ananya has previously engaging in bringing the lived experiences of grassroots communities from Southeast Asia to the forefront, by building the first ASEAN regional coalition to Stop Digital Dictatorship as a way to collectively advocate for the protection and promotion of individual rights by governments and businesses in cyberspace.

Nidhi Sinha (United States)

Nidhi Sinha is an undergraduate fourth-year at NYU studying Computer Science and Mathematics with a minor in Philosophy. After graduating, she plans to work in the sector of AI alignment as a research engineer. Her primary research interests include NLP safety, AI fairness, and policy. She is especially interested in learning about the process of how policies are formulated from start to finish. Her hobbies include hiking, stamp-making, and taking photos.

Dr. Grace Thomson (United Arab Emirates)

Dr. Thomson is the Academic Director at CERT, the corporate arm of the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT). She leads expert teams in the conceptualization and operation of two academies: AI Academy and the VAT Academy. The AI Academy, created in 2019, is an initiative to empower UAE talent and bridge the gap in AI talent and AI knowledge, through national programs in cognitive technology skills for ethical AI adoption. 

CERT is a member of the UAE AI Network, an initiative of the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence to increase AI adoption with a human-centered approach. Dr. Thomson’s solid ability to engage internal and external stakeholders in strategic triple-helix roadmaps is the driver behind the plans of CERT to develop occupational standards in Data Science, Data Analytics, Software Engineering, AI, Cybersecurity, and Blockchain for the workforce of the future. She leads strategies for the creation of Talent Acceleration models that, relying on principles of human development and technology development, ethically use ML models and analytics in career pathway formulation and employability. In cooperation with CERT’s partners, she leads the creation of research ecosystem platforms to connect faculty-student researchers to applied projects with industry.

Eric Wamugu (Kenya)

Eric Wamugu is an experienced Software Developer, Quality Assurance Specialist, as well a tech policy researcher on digital inclusion and accessibility. He's passionate about implementing open, secure, and accessible digital services and products. He has a first degree in Business Information Systems from Strathmore University in Nairobi, Kenya, and a second social sciences degree in Global Challenges from the African Leadership University in Kigali, Rwanda. In addition, he has an executive certificate in Public Policy Analysis from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

His professional and academic endeavors have exposed him to many issues affecting us in the information age, such as low digital and data literacy skills in Africa, particularly the systemic exclusion of people living with disabilities, from the use, research, and implementation of emerging technologies.

As a technologist with a great passion for digital accessibility and inclusion, he developed his mission on improving the accessibility of data visualizations and data literacy, an important skill to have in the 21st century, for people living with severe visual impairments. His project Talking Charts, emerged among the top 3 winners of the  ICT 4 Inclusion Challenge in December 2021, for innovative solutions shaping inclusive education of learners with disabilities in Africa. He aims to empower visually impaired students to perform well and confidently pursue careers in Sciences and Mathematics, where data literacy is an essential skill.

Claudia Wladdimiro Quevedo (Sweden)

As a journalist I have been into strategic communication for 16 years and since August 2020 I am back to academia as Digital Media and Society - Master's Programme in Social Sciences' student at Uppsala University, Sweden (scholarship awarded).

Looking for research groups that I could join to explore how through new technologies, Artificial Intelligence, Automated Decision Making and Human Computer Interaction a more empathetic and humanistic society can be channeled, I got in contact with Professor Anne Kaun from Södertörn University, starting as research assistant 12/2020 in an automated decision-making project where I coded articles and did research review, working with colleagues from Stockholm and Denmark. Later, and as part of my internship, I have worked on the analysis of popular discourses of artificial intelligence, highlighting changes in how AI is imagined in the past 10 years. And together with professor Kaun, we wrote a collaboration for the Tracing The Tracers 2021 report: Automating COVID responses -an Algorithm Watch initiative-, being responsible for the Nordic Countries chapter.

Currently I am a Teacher Assistant in the Human-Computer Interaction class of the Department of Information Technology and during Spring 2022 I will be developing my master thesis “Artificial Intelligence Discourse Analysis through Sociotechnical Imaginaries. Comparative Case Study for Sweden and Chile”.