Rukhshan Haroon
CV · Google Scholar · GitHub · LinkedIn
Hi! I am a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at Tufts University, where I work with Fahad Dogar (advisor) and Jaylin Herskovitz.
My research spans human–AI interaction, accessibility, and AI safety, with a focus on building and benchmarking AI systems designed to support the needs of people with disabilities. My prior work also includes efforts to improve AI access in developing regions and among university students with little or no programming experience. Across these areas, I bring technical expertise in AI system development and evaluation, experience with research methods including participatory design, controlled experiments, and field deployments, and a track record of research in AI for social good.
My dissertation research seeks to understand and improve the role of AI-mediated communication (AIMC) in facilitating cross-neurotype (e.g., autistic-allistic) interaction. This work brings a central concern in AIMC research into focus: when AIMC support is available, whose communication needs does it serve, and how does it accommodate and evaluate different forms of human expression? To investigate this question, I work closely with autistic individuals to understand the challenges that arise in cross-neurotype communication and build neurodiversity-affirming AIMC support tools. I also develop datasets and benchmarking infrastructure to systematically evaluate large language models (LLMs) for bias against autistic communication styles.
Research Interests: AI-Mediated Communication · Accessibility · AI Evaluation · Responsible AI · Human–AI Interaction
News
| Sep 2026 | 🏆 Awarded the Kirk and Janelle Loevner Endowed Fellowship for 2026–2027! |
|---|---|
| Oct 2025 | 🏆 NeuroBridge received the ACM SIGACCESS Best Student Paper Award at ASSETS 2025! |
| Oct 2025 | 📄 Presented NeuroBridge at ASSETS 2025 in Denver, Colorado. |
| Oct 2025 | 💼 Participated in the ASSETS 2025 Doctoral Consortium. |
| Apr 2025 | 💼 Participated in the Generative AI and Accessibility workshop at CHI 2025. |
| Mar 2025 | 📄 Gave a research talk at a CRA UR2PhD Workshop on research and social good. |
| Dec 2024 | 🎓 Passed my Ph.D. candidacy exam. |
| Oct 2024 | 📄 Presented TwIPS at ASSETS 2024 in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. |
| Oct 2023 | 💼 Attended ASSETS 2023 in New York City. |
| Sep 2022 | 🎓 Started my Ph.D. in Computer Science at Tufts University. |
Selected Research
Bridging or Widening the Gap? An Empirical Study on LLM Bias Against Autistic Communication Styles
Rukhshan Haroon, Haisum Haroon, Wren Kritzer, Jaylin Herskovitz, Fahad Dogar
Under submission in 2026.
NeuroBridge: Using Generative AI to Bridge Cross-neurotype Communication Differences with Neurotypical Perspective-taking
Rukhshan Haroon, Kyle Wigdor, Katie Yang, Nicole Toumanios, Eileen T. Crehan, Fahad Dogar
The 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2025). Denver, Colorado, USA.
Best Student Paper Award 🏆
TwIPS: A Large Language Model Powered Texting Application to Simplify Conversational Nuances for Autistic Users
Rukhshan Haroon, Fahad Dogar
The 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2024). St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
On the Frontline During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Gender Inequality and Experiences of Healthcare Workers in Pakistan
Rukhshan Haroon*, Ayesha Naeem*, Priya Sajjad*, Zartash Uzmi
ACM Journal on Computing and Sustainable Societies (JCSS), vol. 2, issue 1, March 2024.
Unpacking Misinformation Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed Methods Study
Priya Sajjad, Rukhshan Haroon, Ayesha Naeem, Uswah Fatima, Zartash Uzmi
IEEE Internet Computing, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 7–18, March–April 2022.
SoK: A Tale of Reduction, Security and Correctness - Evaluating Program Debloating Paradigms and Their Compositions
Ali, M., Muzammil, M., Karim, F., Naeem, A., Haroon, R., Haris, M., Nadeem, H., Sabir, W., Shaon, F., Zaffar, F., Yegneswaran, V., Gehani, A. & Rahaman, S.
28th European Symposium on Research in Computer Security (ESORICS 2023). The Hague, The Netherlands.
LLMProxy: Reducing Cost to Access Large Language Models
Noah Martin, Abdullah Bin Faisal, Hiba Eltigani, Rukhshan Haroon, Chami Lamelas, Fahad Dogar
Under submission in 2026.
Contact
I’m always happy to chat with folks working in HCI, accessibility, and related areas, so please feel free to send me an email!
Email: rukhshan.haroon@tufts.edu
Office: Room 440K, 177 College Ave, Medford, MA 02155.