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A huge congratulations goes out to Nanyu Luo, who was named our 2025 Lora Dolores Antoniette Pallotta Memorial Graduate Scholarship recipient.

In 2010, the Pallotta family established a graduate scholarship for an outstanding student in the department of Applied Psychology and Human Development (APHD) in memory of their daughter Lora Dolores, who was a graduate student in the Department. The Lora Dolores Antoniette Pallotta Memorial Graduate Scholarship is awarded annually, to a graduate student in APHD based on financial need, academic merit, and engagement in innovative research related to “the immigrant experience.”

We sat down with Nanyu to learn more about his graduate school journey, his current research, and his future goals. 

Congratulations, Nanyu. Can you describe your winning research proposal?

This project will build a bank of AI-driven “digital twin” immigrant adolescents to ethically examine how online self-harm content shapes mental health and belonging. It is part of a broader framework for rigorously testing causal mechanisms in sensitive issues affecting vulnerable groups. The twins will be fine-tuned and validated to mirror diverse migration histories and psychological profiles. In simulated social media feeds, twins will be exposed to harmful versus neutral content and randomized to receive culturally tailored coping interventions, enabling robust causal inference and informing safer, culturally responsive digital supports for immigrant and newcomer youth in Canada.

That sounds pretty innovative. Can you describe the educational experiences that prepared you to do that type of research?

I started out in applied math as an undergrad, which mostly taught me how to wrestle messy real-world problems into neat little equations. Then I went to Oxford for a Master’s in statistics, where I drowned in models and more statistics. Along the way I picked up a toolkit of applied statistics, machine learning, deep learning, and AI methods, and slowly started figuring out how to use them for work that might actually be useful and meaningful for other people.

Why did you choose to do your graduate work in APHD at the University of Toronto?

APHD offers a genuinely interdisciplinary research environment and community at the intersection of psychology, education, and data-driven methods. It’s an ideal place to work with researchers who care deeply about both rigorous science and real-world impact for children and youth.

Can you share one strategy you use to succeed in academia? 

I try to regularly share half-baked ideas with people I trust and learn from others’ strengths. It reminds me that progress usually comes from good collaborations.

Can you share one thing that brings joy, balance, and good health to your busy life?