Faculty Associate
desais[at]yorku.ca
Assistant Professor
Department of Design, York University
Research Keywords:
Interaction design; ageing and technology; dementia; healthcare; assistive technologies; co-creation and co-design methods; humanity-centred design; systems design; global health
Research Region(s):
South Asia
Research Diaspora(s):
Asian Diaspora
Dr. Shital Desai is Assistant Professor in the Department of Design in the School of Arts, Media, Performance & Design and York Research Chair in Accessible Interaction Design at York University. She heads the CFI-funded Social and Technological Systems (SaTS) lab where she and her team engages in research that addresses issues that focus on United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals using Design Research methods, Human Centred Design and Systems Design approaches. To that extent, she cocreates accessible technologies, services and governance policies for marginalized people and Global Health.
Shital is a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dementia Knowledge Exchange peer review network where she shares her expert knowledge on dementia and technology in strengthening policies, service planning and health and social care systems for dementia. She is passionate about training students in Systems Design and Design thinking methods to address societal issues around accessibility and inclusivity. Shital is the recipient of several awards and grants, including 2021–22 AMPD Research award, Petro Canada Young Innovator Award and tri-council grants—SSHRC, CIHR and NSERC. She received an NSERC Discovery grant in 2021 to design and develop adaptive assistive technologies for people with dementia.