About

The SAFElab is a research initiative focused on examining the ways in which communities of color navigate well-being,  grief, and violence on and offline.

Drawing on computational and social work approaches to research, we engage in qualitative and natural language processing methods to understand topics of well-being, mental health, trauma and violence that may be expressed online and work with marginalized communities to co-design ways of intervening.

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Our mission is to Improve well-being outcomes for communities of color

Be a resource for community members, community-workers, and government in understanding the communities voice 

Contribute new knowledge regarding the phenomenon of community well-being and social media behaviors

Identify best practices to improve community-level work

An interdisciplinary team of social scientists, computer scientists, designers, and researchers from Columbia University conducted research to analyze the patterns and changes in sentiment of quality of life, wellbeing, community, and living conditions among residents of New York City.

An interdisciplinary team of social scientists, computer scientists, designers, and researchers from Columbia University conducted research to analyze the patterns and changes in sentiment of quality of life, wellbeing, community, and living conditions among residents of New York City.

An interdisciplinary team of social scientists, computer scientists, designers, and researchers from Columbia University conducted research to analyze the patterns and changes in sentiment of quality of life, wellbeing, community, and living conditions among residents of New York City.

An interdisciplinary team of social scientists, computer scientists, designers, and researchers from Columbia University conducted research to analyze the patterns and changes in sentiment of quality of life, wellbeing, community, and living conditions among residents of New York City.

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Our mission is to Improve well-being outcomes for communities of color

Be a resource for community members, community-workers, and government in understanding the communities voice 

Contribute new knowledge regarding the phenomenon of community well-being and social media behaviors

Identify best practices to improve community-level work

An interdisciplinary team of social scientists, computer scientists, designers, and researchers from Columbia University conducted research to analyze the patterns and changes in sentiment of quality of life, wellbeing, community, and living conditions among residents of New York City.

An interdisciplinary team of social scientists, computer scientists, designers, and researchers from Columbia University conducted research to analyze the patterns and changes in sentiment of quality of life, wellbeing, community, and living conditions among residents of New York City.

An interdisciplinary team of social scientists, computer scientists, designers, and researchers from Columbia University conducted research to analyze the patterns and changes in sentiment of quality of life, wellbeing, community, and living conditions among residents of New York City.

An interdisciplinary team of social scientists, computer scientists, designers, and researchers from Columbia University conducted research to analyze the patterns and changes in sentiment of quality of life, wellbeing, community, and living conditions among residents of New York City.

An interdisciplinary team of social scientists, computer scientists, designers, and researchers from Columbia University conducted research to analyze the patterns and changes in sentiment of quality of life, wellbeing, community, and living conditions among residents of New York City.

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Our

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Story

2019

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2019
2020

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2019
2021

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2017
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Our Team

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Brandon Rhiel Madsen
Cofounder
decorated blue circular shape with a corner at the bottom rightman with glasses smile on his face
Brandon Rhiel Madsen
Cofounder
decorated purple circular shape with a corner at the bottom rightman with glasses smile on his face
Brandon Rhiel Madsen
Cofounder
decorated pink circular shape with a corner at the bottom rightman with glasses smile on his face
Brandon Rhiel Madsen
Cofounder
decorated orange circular shape with a corner at the bottom rightman with glasses smile on his face
Brandon Rhiel Madsen
Cofounder
decorated blue circular shape with a corner at the bottom rightman with glasses smile on his face
Brandon Rhiel Madsen
Cofounder
decorated purple circular shape with a corner at the bottom rightman with glasses smile on his face
Brandon Rhiel Madsen
Cofounder
decorated pink circular shape with a corner at the bottom rightman with glasses smile on his face
Brandon Rhiel Madsen
Cofounder
SAFELAB / Qualitative Team
Nathan Aguilar
Dr. Aviv Landau
Chōkdee Rutirasiri
Rachel Kagan
Ash Cole Jr.
Minahil Salam
Kelsey Reeder
Antoinette Gardner
Eno Darkwa
Eric Stoneberg
Tianai Ren
Dr. Desmond Patton
Computer Vision Team
Dr. Chris Thomas
Daniel Halmos
Timothy Wang
Thomas Zollo
Gokul Srinivasan
Crispin Vincent Lobo
Catherine Chen
Dean Shih Fu Chang
NLP Team
Anish Saha
Emily Allaway
Amith Ananthram
Dr. Kathy McKeown