Siva Mathiyazhagan

Siva Mathiyazhagan

  • Research Assistant Professor & Co-Director, SAFELab

    • Research Interests

    Youth and social media

    Tech social work

    Caste & racial bias

    Tech policy

    Social innovations & entrepreneurship

    Dr. Siva Mathiyazhagan is a Research Assistant Professor at the School of Social Policy & Practice and Co-Director of SAFELab at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Senior Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania and a Pradeep Mehendiratta Fellow (2025-26) at the American Institute of Indian Studies. Dr. Mathiyazhagan is a global tech social work researcher and community practitioner. He co-designs and develops community-centered AI-supported technology products and tools for youth well-being and development. He co-creates tech social work policies and ethical considerations for Artificial Intelligence(AI), Machine Learning (ML), GenAI, AGI, and Metaverse for social equity, and just and equitable Web3.

    Dr. Mathiyazhagan deploys a hybrid version of qualitative indigenous research methodologies and Contextual Analysis of Social Media (CASM) to understand youth expressions on social media in native/regional/hyper-local languages to prevent suicidal ideations and promote youth well-being. Dr. Mathiyazhagan is the Founder-Director of the youth-led non-profit Trust for Youth and Child Leadership (TYCL) International, based in Asia and the Americas. Dr. Mathiyazhagan serves as a TYCL representative to the United Nations. Dr. Mathiyazhagan was an RSM Assembly Fellow (2022-23) and faculty associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University. Dr. Mathiyazhagan was a postdoctoral research scientist and lecturer at the School of Social Work at Columbia University.

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    SAFELab | Faculty | Research Faculty | Associated Faculty

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    Related News

    SP2 at SSWR 2026: Leading for Transformative Change

    Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) is proud to participate in the 30th Annual Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) Conference, taking place January 14 –18, 2026, in Washington, D.C. 

    SP2 climate inequality projects awarded Penn grants

    With a growing focus on climate inequality, Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) recognizes the climate crisis as a significant social justice issue. Recent University-level grants to SP2 faculty and staff demonstrate the School’s innovative work in this area.

    Two SAFELab researchers named to faculty of SP2

    Dr. Aviv Landau and Dr. Siva Mathiyazhagan are being appointed research assistant professors at SP2. The two researchers have been affiliated with Penn since 2022, when they relocated to the University as members of SAFELab.

    Social scientists must address ChatGPT’s ethical challenges before using it for research

    Penn Today has spotlighted new work by researchers at Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) and the Annenberg School for Communication to ensure the ethical use of artificial intelligence resources such as ChatGPT by social work scientists.

    Researchers: Social scientists must address ChatGPT’s ethical challenges before using it for research

    A new paper by researchers at Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) and Penn’s Annenberg School for Communication offers recommendations to ensure the ethical use of artificial intelligence resources such as ChatGPT by social work scientists.