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PhD Student receives inaugural Inlight Research Fellowship in support of mental health research

Submitted on Thursday, April 27, 2023

Faculty of Information PhD student Yaxi Zhao’s research focuses on the impact of students’ interpersonal relationships, including romantic relationships, on their mental health. Specifically, Zhao is examining the challenges and opportunities in triad remote couple therapies and designing a therapeutic platform prototype as an intervention to better understand the communication needs of therapists and student clients during remote triad couple therapy sessions. Zhao is supervised by Professor Rhonda McEwen.

The award, presented to seven students across U of T’s three campuses, supports independent student researchers in post-secondary student mental health.

headshot of Yaxi Zhao “I’m honored to receive the Inlight research fellowship and will continue to investigate the co-evolution of technology and mental healthcare practices,” Zhao said in a tweet.