{"693148":{"#nid":"693148","#data":{"type":"news","title":"BridgeUP STEM Scholar Returns as Helen Fellow to Research AI in Mental Healthcare\u00a0","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAshley Ni\u003C\/strong\u003E first came to BridgeUP STEM as a high school student, joining in the 2024-2025 academic year. Now she is a computer science student, returning to the program as a Helen Fellow and serving as the first BridgeUP STEM participant to experience the program as both a scholar and a fellow.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a high school student at Global Impact Academy in Fairburn, Georgia, Ni worked with four professors, spending about two months with each and exploring different areas of computing.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt was really cool being able to experience the different forms of computing and their significance,\u201d Ni said. \u201cOne day I would be playing AI literacy games with Dr. \u003Cstrong\u003EJudith Uchidiuno\u003C\/strong\u003E, then the next day I\u2019d be training my own ML model with Dr. \u003Cstrong\u003ESonia Chernova\u003C\/strong\u003E.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/constellations.gatech.edu\/bridgeup-stem-building-future-computing\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EBridgeUP STEM\u003C\/a\u003E is a College of Computing program that guides first-generation and low-income students by moving them beyond the traditional classroom. Funded by the Helen Gurley Brown Foundation, the program provides early, hands-on exposure to coding skills and computing research activities.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENi was interested in technology and STEM but planned to pursue a career in healthcare after high school because she considered it a more practical path.\u0026nbsp;However, in her junior year, she stepped out of her comfort zone and chose a path that felt foreign to her.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBridgeUP really helped me through my journey. It allowed me to see what computing was all about and made me confident in my choice to switch paths,\u201d she said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENow, as a Helen Fellow, Ni continues to explore the intersection of computing and health through research in the lab of School of Interactive Computing Associate Professor \u003Cstrong\u003ERosa Arriaga\u003C\/strong\u003E. She is working on TEAMMAIT, an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant project focused on understanding how mental health clinicians interact with AI.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers are developing TEAMMAIT as an AI teammate for mental health work, with the goal of providing insights and feedback to help mental health professionals.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlong with lab-based research, Ni\u2019s fellowship also connects her with the current BridgeUP STEM cohort.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI\u2019d say this role is both a mentorship and a research role because, in addition to the research work, I\u2019ll also be assisting Dr. Arriaga in the spring semester by mentoring her research seminars with the BridgeUP STEM scholars,\u201d Ni said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENi says that returning to the program has already felt nostalgic, especially at the first BridgeUP STEM meeting of the semester.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI met Dr. Judith as well as the people from her lab who also recognized me. It made me feel very happy seeing how enthusiastic these new scholars are, and it feels like so much yet so little has changed,\u201d Ni said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor Ni, returning as a fellow is an opportunity to share the experience that helped her find a new direction. She hopes it can encourage other students who may be uncertain about their paths.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBridgeUP STEM is a program that is near and dear to me. It allowed me to find myself and build a path for my future career goals,\u201d she said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI wanted to return to BridgeUP STEM as a Helen Fellow because I would like to inspire those coming after me and share my story with them. I want to let them know that it\u2019s never too late to go for what they\u2019re truly passionate about even if you feel like it\u2019s a race against time.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHer advice to students now beginning their BridgeUP journey is to ask questions, talk to the researchers, and make the most of the experience.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs she returns to the program with a new perspective, Ni carries one lesson from her time as a scholar: \u201cTime flies and you should make the most of it.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAshley Ni\u003C\/strong\u003E first came to BridgeUP STEM as a high school student, joining in the 2024-2025 academic year. Now she is a computer science student, returning to the program as a Helen Fellow and serving as the first BridgeUP STEM participant to experience the program as both a scholar and a fellow.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Ashley Ni first came to BridgeUP STEM as a high school student, joining in the 2024-2025 academic year. Now she is a computer science student, returning to the program as a Helen Fellow and serving as the first BridgeUP STEM participant to experience the "}],"uid":"36613","created_gmt":"2026-10-08 22:26:31","changed_gmt":"2026-10-09 15:02:51","author":"Emily Smith","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-10-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-10-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"681384":{"id":"681384","type":"image","title":"Ashley Ni","body":null,"created":"1791498570","gmt_created":"2026-10-08 22:29:30","changed":"1791498570","gmt_changed":"2026-10-08 22:29:30","alt":"Ashley Ni","file":{"fid":"265765","name":"Untitled-design--13-.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/08\/Untitled-design--13-.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/10\/08\/Untitled-design--13-.png","mime":"image\/png","size":188397,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/10\/08\/Untitled-design--13-.png?itok=3DZT0tZC"}}},"media_ids":["681384"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"660374","name":"School of Computing Instruction"}],"categories":[{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"42911","name":"Education"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"193157","name":"Student Honors and Achievements"}],"keywords":[{"id":"175066","name":"constellations"},{"id":"176480","name":"constellations center for equity in computing"},{"id":"654","name":"College of Computing"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193655","name":"Artificial Intelligence at Georgia Tech"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["emily.smith@cc.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}