Shira Zilberstein

PhD Candidate, Sociology, Harvard University

I am completing my PhD in sociology at Harvard University where I am also a former Science and Technology Studies Fellow. My scholarship lies at the intersection of cultural sociology, science and technology studies, and organizational sociology. I use qualitative methods to examine the moral, organizational, and social dimensions that shape the production of knowledge, science, and technology with particular attention to how knowledge gains authority across institutional boundaries.

My current research investigates interdisciplinary collaborations in applied AI research and how knowledge is put into practice to define and address social problems. Focusing on researchers and labs developing machine learning models for healthcare, I draw on interviews, ethnography, and extensive document analysis to show how technical experts moralize AI innovation as central to solving societal problems, even amid uncertainty and contested outcomes. I examine how clinical and technical researchers determine which healthcare issues are appropriate for AI intervention, how they navigate organizational demands and resource constraints, and how they construct professional coalitions that frame them as moral actors advancing responsible technological governance. My research contributes to broader debates about morality, legitimacy, organizations, science, and innovation. It explores how research communities grapple with the limits of technological solutions while sustaining enduring commitments to innovation as a mode of social intervention. You can read a feature article about my research here.

In related scholarship, I have studied knowledge production and collective action on digital platforms, within legal arenas, urban art scence, and conceptions of agency.

My work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the American Sociological Association, the Russell Sage Foundation, the Knight Foundation, and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, among others.

Publications

Hasan, A., N. Prizant, J.Y. Kim, S. Rao, D. Vidal, K. Shaw, D. Tobey, A. Valladares, Zilberstein, S., M. Patel, S. Balu, M. Sendak, and M. Lifson. 2025. “Aligning AI Principles and Healthcare Delivery Organization Best Practices to Navigate the Shifting Regulatory Landscape.” npj Digital Medicine, 8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-025-01605-2.

Zilberstein, S.,Sanchez, M., Ayala-Hurtado, E. and D. Robey. 2024. “The Self in Action: Narrating Agentic Moments.” RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences. 10(5): 118–40. https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2024.10.5.05.

Zilberstein, S. 2024. "Ethical Dilemmas and Collaborative Resolutions in Machine Learning Research for Healthcare.” Socius, 10. https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231241259671.

Zilberstein, S. 2024. “Models of Generating Cultural Authority: Academics and Journalists on a Digital Platform.” Poetics, 102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2024.101871

Boag, W., A. Hasan, J.Y. Kim, M. Revoir, M. Nichols, W. Ratliff, S. Zilberstein, C.O'Brien, D. Tart, J. Theiling, M.A. Fuchs, T. Brown, Z. Samad, Z. Hoodbhoy, M. Ali, N.S. Khan, M. Gao, M. Patel, S. Balu, Dr Mark Sendak. 2024. "The Algorithm Journey Map: A tangible approach to Implementing AI solutions in Healthcare.” npj Digital Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-024-01061-4.

Zilberstein, S., Lamont, M., and M. Sanchez. 2023. "Recreating a Plausible Future: Combining Cultural Repertoires in Unsettled Times.” Sociological Science 10. https://sociologicalscience.com/articles-v10-11-348/

Zilberstein, S. 2022. ”Developing Artificial Intelligence For Good: Interdisciplinary Research Collaborations and the Making of Ethical AI.” In Proceedings of the 2022 AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (AIES’22), August 1–3, 2022, Oxford, United Kingdom. ACM, New York, NY, USA. https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3514094.3539516

Sanchez, M., M. Lamont, and S. Zilberstein. 2022. ”How American College Students Understand Social Resilience during Covid and the Movement for Racial Justice: Toward a Processual Approach.” Social Science and Medicine. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953622001964

Halliday, T., S. Zilberstein and W. Espeland. 2021. “Basic Legal Freedoms: An International Legal Complex and the Deviant Case of China.” Annual Review of Law and Social Science 17(1). https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-111620-013613

Zilberstein, S. 2019. “Space Making as Artistic Practice: The Relationship between Grassroots Art Organizations and the Political Economy of Urban Development.” City and Community 18(4): 1142-1161. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cico.12458

In progress

Zilberstein, S. “Jurisdictional Gerrymandering: Diagnosing Problems without Proposing Solutions.” (Revise and resubmit)

Zilberstein, S. "Beyond Corporate Solutionism: The Articulation-Deployment Paradox in Healthcare AI Research Labs." (Under review)

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