Yang Li, PhD, RN, assistant professor at The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing, has been awarded a prestigious grant from the Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation to advance an innovative project aimed at supporting Chinese immigrant women who are survivors of intimate partner violence.
“Receiving this award means a great deal to me,” Li said. “It’s a recognition of how important it is to address intimate partner violence and mental health in an underserved group of women. This support gives us the opportunity to build something innovative and sustainable that can truly make a difference in people’s lives.”
Li’s research centers on women’s health, with a particular focus on underserved populations affected by violence and trauma. Her work examines how adverse childhood experiences and intimate partner violence shape mental and maternal health outcomes.
Her project, “Development of an AI Chatbot to Support the Wellbeing of Chinese Immigrant Women Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence,” focuses on supporting Chinese women who experience intimate partner violence. Li said many women in this community face challenges, such as language barriers, stigma and a lack of culturally appropriate services, that make it hard for them to seek help.
Li and her team are developing SHE-bot, an AI-powered chatbot designed to help women foster self-compassion, strengthen their sense of safety and autonomy and support their mental health. The chatbot will provide private, on-demand conversations in a woman’s preferred language, making it easier to access help and resources whenever they’re needed most.
“I was inspired by the strength and resilience of Chinese women who have survived abuse but often struggle to find safe, culturally sensitive support,” she added. “Many shared that they felt isolated and didn’t know where to turn. I wanted to create a solution that reaches women where they are, one that respects their cultural values and offers care in a language and format they feel comfortable with. Hearing their voices motivated me to design an approach that combines self-compassion, empowerment and technology.”
Through this project, Li hopes to demonstrate how technology can offer safe, compassionate and culturally meaningful support to women who might otherwise hesitate to seek help. Her team aims to help participants feel more supported, experience less anxiety and depression and gain confidence in making decisions about their safety and well-being.
“In the long run, we hope this chatbot can serve as a model that can be adapted for other underserved communities facing similar barriers,” she concluded.
The grant is part of the Hillman Emergent Innovation (HEI) program, which funds early-stage, nursing-driven interventions designed to improve health and health care—particularly for marginalized and underserved communities. This year, the HEI program awarded a total of $400,000 to eight projects across the country. Together with the Hillman Emergent Innovation: Serious Illness and End of Life program, which focuses on care innovations for those facing serious illness, the Foundation awarded 18 new grants totaling more than $925,000.