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  • CHI 2025, Yokohama, Japan

Jiaxun "Jessie" Cao

she/her/hers

Ph.D. student @ Duke Computer Science

Hi! I'm Jessie, a second-year Ph.D. student in Computer Science at Duke University, advised by Pardis Emami-Naeini. My research lies at the intersection of human-computer interaction (HCI) and usable security and privacy, with a goal of making existing and emerging technologies more usable, safe, and privacy-preserving for not only the general but also marginalized populations.

Prior to starting my Ph.D., I received my dual bachelor’s degrees from Duke and Duke Kunshan. My CV is available here.

News

June 2025
I passed my first-year Ph.D. milestone with my research-initiation project proposal titled "Designing for Security and Privacy Transparency of Consumer-Facing Artificial Intelligence."
April 2025
One co-author paper has been accepted to USENIX '25.
February 2025
I served as a program committee member (AC) for CHI '25 Late-Breaking Work.
February 2025
One co-author short paper has been accepted to CHI '25 Late-Breaking Work.
▶ Show older news
December 2024
Daniel Shea kindly invited me to talk about my research on a podcast for New Books Network.
September 2024
One co-author paper has been accepted to CSCW '25.
August 2024
I started my Ph.D. journey!
June 2024
Our research on (lack of) privacy of period tracking post Roe v. Wade has been covered by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
May 2024
I presented one paper at IEEE S&P (Oakland) in San Francisco, CA.
May 2024
I presented two papers at CHI '24 in Honolulu, HI.
April 2024
I will be joining Duke CS as a Ph.D. student in the coming fall.
March 2024
One first-author paper has been accepted to IEEE S&P (Oakland) '24.
January 2024
Two first-author papers have been accepted to CHI '24.
August 2023
One co-author poster has been accepted to ASSETS '23.
April 2023
I presented my first-ever first-author paper at CHI '23 in Hamburg, Germany.
March 2023
I served as an onsite student volunteer for IEEE VR '23 in Shanghai, China.
January 2023
One first-author and one co-author paper have been accepted to CHI '23.

Publications

* indicates equal contribution

2025

Exploring User Security and Privacy Attitudes and Concerns Toward the Use of General-Purpose LLM Chatbots for Mental Health
Jabari Kwesi, Jiaxun Cao, Riya Manchanda, and Pardis Emami-Naein.
USENIX Security 2025
PDF USENIX
Investigating Legal Professionals’ Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Technology-Enabled Abuse in Intimate Partner Violence
Robin Koshelev, Jiaxun Cao, Danielle Park, Marvin Tai, Pardis Emami-Naeini, and Sophie Stephenson.
CHI 2025 LBW
PDF ACM DL
Understanding Young People’s Creative Goals with Augmented Reality
Amna Liaqat, Fannie Liu, Brian Berengard, Jiaxun Cao, and Andrés MonroyHernández.
CSCW 2025
PDF ACM DL

2024

Understanding Parents’ Perceptions and Practices Toward Children’s Security and Privacy in Virtual Reality
Jiaxun Cao, Abhinaya S. B., Anupam Das, and Pardis Emami-Naeini.
IEEE S&P (Oakland) 2024
PDF Talk IEEE DL Slides Poster
“I Deleted It After the Overturn of Roe v. Wade”: Understanding Women's Privacy Concerns Toward Period-Tracking Apps in the Post Roe v. Wade Era
Jiaxun Cao, Hiba Laabadli, Chase Mathis, Rebecca Stern, and Pardis Emami-Naeini.
CHI 2024
PDF Talk ACM DL Slides
“Voices Help Correlate Signs and Words”: Analyzing Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) TikTokers’ Content, Practices, and Pitfalls
Jiaxun Cao, Xuening Peng, Fan Liang, and Xin Tong.
CHI 2024
PDF Talk ACM DL Slides

2023

Investigating Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) Individuals’ Online Dating Practices, Self-Presentation, and Disability Disclosure
Xiangrong Zhu, Jiaxun Cao, Zhe Niu, Jingze Zhang, and Xin Tong.
ASSETS 2023 Poster
PDF ACM DL
DreamVR: Curating an Interactive Exhibition in Social VR Through an Autobiographical Design Study
Jiaxun Cao, Qingyang He, Zhuo Wang, RAY LC, and Xin Tong.
CHI 2023
PDF Preview Talk ACM DL Prototype
"I Am a Mirror Dweller": Probing the Unique Strategies Users Take to Communicate in the Context of Mirrors in Social Virtual Reality
Kexue Fu*, Yixin Chen*, Jiaxun Cao, Xin Tong, and RAY LC.
CHI 2023
PDF Talk ACM DL