Diana is a BRC-funded PhD student at the University of Exeter and a member of the Calming Minds Project team. Her project explores how Natural Language Processing (NLP) can support and improve digital mental health interventions. As part of her research, she investigates text-based data from online Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) platforms to better understand therapeutic progress and outcomes, with the aim of developing ethical and explainable AI approaches to enhance psychological care.

Diana has a background in Computer Science and developed her interest in applying artificial intelligence to healthcare during her MSc in Advanced Computer Science at Newcastle University. During her studies, she worked as a research assistant on psychology-related projects, where she gained experience in data-driven research. This experience introduced her to the potential of computational approaches in understanding mental health and motivated her to pursue further research at the intersection of AI and psychology.

Building on her expertise in machine learning, deep learning, and neural networks, Diana’s current PhD research focuses on developing AI-driven methods to support digital mental health technologies. She collaborates with clinicians and researchers to explore how computational tools can be applied responsibly to improve the delivery and evaluation of psychological interventions.