Abhinanda Dash

Abhinanda is a fifth-year PhD candidate in the Department of Communication at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research explores how people form first impressions from cues such as faces, voices, and bodies. She also studies how people form rapid impressions of artificial intelligence and how these judgments can lead to misplaced trust and overreliance on AI outputs.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Delhi and a master’s degree in Cognitive Science from the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar. As Chair of Science Communication and Policymaking in the Science and Policy Group at UCLA, she works to connect research with evidence-based decision-making in policy and organizational settings. At The Decision Lab, she will build on her doctoral research to help people develop appropriately calibrated trust in AI.

In her free time, Abhinanda enjoys playing pickleball, hiking, and exploring various neighborhood coffee shops.