Barbara Barbosa Neves

Dr Barbara Barbosa Neves (PhD, FRSA, FHEA) is a leading sociologist of technology and ageing.

She is a Professor and Senior Horizon Fellow in AI and Healthy Ageing at the University of Sydney, where she leads the AI social science team at the Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies. She is an incoming Australian Research Council Future Fellow (2026–2030), one of Australia’s most competitive research awards.

An internationally recognised expert on social health (loneliness and social isolation) and digital inequalities in later life, she studies how emerging technologies – such as robotic companions, virtual reality, and AI – shape the lives of older people. Working directly with this population through co-design, her research ensures these technologies foster inclusion rather than marginalise people aged 65+, including those living with neurodegenerative conditions like dementia.

Her interdisciplinary work, spanning gerontology and the social and computer sciences, has received 28 awards across North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia. In 2019, she was named one of ABC’s Top 5 Humanities and Social Sciences Scholars in Australia.