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About

Melanie Lenger is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of social robotics and mental health, with a focused expertise in adult psychiatry and gender-sensitive human-robot interaction. Her work addresses critical gaps in psychiatric care, exploring how socially assistive robots can mitigate staffing shortages and enhance treatment for conditions like depression. In her most-cited paper (2025, 3 citations), Lenger provides a comprehensive summary of social robot utilization in adult psychiatry, demonstrating their promise across nursing, geriatric care, and autism spectrum interventions. Her 2023 study, with 1 citation, introduces groundbreaking work from the Austrian AMIGA project, where she develops and evaluates a gender-sensitive, customizable robotic system to motivate patients with depression for cognitive training—a novel approach recognizing that approximately 280 million people worldwide suffer from depression-related cognitive deficits. Lenger’s contributions are notable for their interdisciplinary rigor, blending robotics engineering with clinical psychology and gender studies. By pioneering gender-aware design in assistive technology, she ensures that robotic interventions are inclusive and effective for diverse patient populations. Her research holds significant potential to transform psychiatric rehabilitation, making her a rising voice in socially assistive robotics and mental health innovation.