Elizabeth Ankrah
Postdoctoral Researcher · Microsoft Research Africa · Nairobi, Kenya
I am a Postdoctoral Researcher at Microsoft Research Africa, where I study how AI systems perform across cultural and linguistic contexts, particularly for communities in the Global South. My work sits at the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction, responsible AI, and health informatics.
I hold a Ph.D. in Informatics from the University of California, Irvine, and am an NSF Graduate Research Fellow. My research examines AI deployment and evaluation in multilingual, cross-cultural settings.
Research Areas
What I Study and Why It Matters
Human-Computer Interaction
I design and evaluate AI systems that center the lived experiences of users across cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic boundaries. My HCI work focuses on participatory methods, user agency, and the social dynamics of human-AI collaboration.
AI Language and Culture
I study how large language models perform across languages and cultural contexts, with particular focus on African languages and low-resource settings. My research surfaces instruction drift, prompt sensitivity, and evaluation gaps that standard benchmarks miss.
Health Informatics
I examine how digital health technologies shape patient experience, clinical workflows, and health equity, particularly in under-resourced settings. My work investigates both the promise and the risk of AI-assisted diagnostics and patient-facing health tools.
Publications
Selected Work
CHI 2022 · Conference Paper
Investigating the Role of Boundaries in Telehealth Visit Dynamics
Ankrah, E.A. et al. · ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
ToCHI · Journal · Under Review
Multilayered Boundary Management in Patient-Provider Telehealth
Ankrah, E.A. et al. · ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction
CHI 2025 · Under Review
Cross-Lingual Prompt Engineering and Instruction Drift in LLMs
Ankrah, E.A. et al. · ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
PLOS ONE · Journal
Sociotechnical Factors in AI-Assisted Clinical Decision Support
Ankrah, E.A. et al. · PLOS ONE
Experience
Where I Have Worked
2025 – Present
Postdoctoral Researcher
Microsoft Research Africa · Nairobi, Kenya
Conducting research on AI evaluation, cross-cultural NLP, and responsible AI deployment in African contexts.
Summer 2024
Research Intern
Microsoft Research Cambridge · Cambridge, UK
Research on human-AI interaction and evaluation methodologies for large language models.
Summer 2022
Research Intern
Netflix · Los Gatos, California
UX research on content personalization and accessibility, informing product design decisions for diverse global audiences.
2019 – 2024
Ph.D. Researcher
University of California, Irvine · Irvine, California
Informatics Ph.D. with focus on HCI, telehealth, and AI evaluation. NSF Graduate Research Fellow. Dissertation on AI deployment and evaluation in multilingual, cross-cultural settings.
Recognition
Honors and Awards
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
National Science Foundation
Microsoft Research Postdoctoral Fellowship
Microsoft Research Africa
Diversity and Inclusion Award
ACM CHI 2022
UCI Provost’s Ph.D. Fellowship
University of California, Irvine
Just Tech Fellowship
Social Science Research Council
George Mason University Merit Scholarship
George Mason University
Affiliations
UC Irvine · George Mason University · Microsoft Research · Netflix
Contact
Get in Touch
I welcome collaborations, speaking invitations, and research conversations. The best way to reach me is by email.
Liz Ankrah 