Name: Abiraahmi Shankar
Email: abiraahmi.shankar@nyu.edu | Student's Website Portfolio
Program: Statistics & Computational Social Science
Research Interests: open-source research tools, equity-centered mixed-methods methodology, child and adolescent development
Principal Advisor(s): Joe Cimpian
Research description/bio:
Abiraahmi works at the intersection of qualitative and quantitative research, developing mixed-methods workflows and computational tools to study questions spanning holistic development, mental health and suicide prevention. Drawing on seven years of applied research experience and her artistry, she is particularly interested in developing open-source tools and methods that preserve creativity, complexity, and lived experience, rooted in a commitment to expanding who can participate in producing research knowledge. Abiraahmi has given talks at R/Medicine, the Society for Child Development in Research and the Comparative and International Education Society. She holds a Masters of Science in Integrated Design & Media from NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering and Bachelors of Science in Applied Psychology from NYU Steinhardt.
Selected Awards, Publications, and Presentations
Shankar, A., Kim, H.Y., Tubbs-Dolan, C., Caires, R., Aber, J.L., de Oca, M., Anker, P. (2026). The Bidirectional Contribution of Social and Emotional Learning to Changes in Refugee Students’ Academic Outcomes. International Journal of Behavioral Development.
Morris-Perez, P., Shankar, A., Abenavoli, R., Sczersputowski, J., Saragosa-Harris, D., Benzekri, A., Collins, S., Canizares, C., Russell, S., & Alvarez, K. (2026). Youth suicide prevention in the form of a structured film contest: A qualitative study to build the Theory of Change for Directing Change. School Mental Health, 1-18.
Yoo, W. (2026). Bridging worlds across the arts, research, and creative identity: Interview with Abiraahmi Shankar [Audio podcast episode]. In Solis and Luna Arts Podcast.
Shankar, A. & Iqbal, Y. (2026). “Not everyone can be given the same solution”: Suicide Helpline Volunteers on the Role of AI in Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka. Invited contribution to the Special Section on Artificial Intelligence and Human Development Across the Lifespan, ISSBD Bulletin; forthcoming.
Shankar, A., Cañizares, C., & Cardozo, F, Stockmans, S & Morris-Perez, P. (2025). DedooseR: Monitoring and Analyzing Dedoose Qualitative Data Exports (Version 2.0.0.1) CRAN.
Gumisiriza, M., Tubbs, C., Shankar, A., Seminario, E. (2023). Communities are the Experts: Testing a Measure of Organizational Capacity for Community-based Problem-solving (Org-CapCPS): Psychometric Evidence from East Africa.
Caires, R., Shankar, A., Diaz, P., Rafla, J., Tubbs Dolan, C., & Wuermli, A. (2019). The MENAT CHILD measurement inventory. New York, NY: NYU Global TIES for Children.