Mirko Casu

Clinical Psychologist, PhD Student in Computer Science @ University of Catania.

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Hello there! I’m a clinical psychologist and a PhD student in Computer Science at the University of Catania, where I work on the SiciliAn MicronanOTecH Research And Innovation CEnter (SAMOTHRACE) project and am a member of the Multimedia Security & Forensics group at the Image Processing Laboratory (IPLab). My interdisciplinary research connects psychology with technology, exploring artificial intelligence, deepfakes, cognitive bias, digital forensics, eHealth, mHealth, and virtual reality applications.

Previously, I earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychological Science from the University of Sassari in 2019, and a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Catania in 2023. My internships focused on Lacanian psychoanalytic, cognitive-behavioral, and systemic-relational approaches.

news

Mar 29, 2025
I’ve been interviewed for the new Nxwss article by Emanuele Fornito, which explores AI from a psychological perspective; my insights are in the second part.
Mar 10, 2025
Our latest scoping review, Smoking Detection and Cessation: An Updated Scoping Review of Digital and Mobile Health Technologies, has been published in IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics (Q1 in Computer Science & Health Informatics, IF: 6.7)
Jan 31, 2025
My paper, AI Chatbots for Mental Health: A Scoping Review, published in July 2024, was cited by the UK Parliament’s POST report on AI and mental healthcare.
Dec 09, 2024
At the first-ever Welcome PhD Day at the Università di Catania, I had the opportunity to present my research on impostor bias.
Oct 23, 2024
At IEEE MetroXRAINE 2024 in St Albans, I had the honor of presenting our paper on using hypnosis and VR in psychological partner violence, a case study from my postgraduate internship.

selected publications

  1. BMC Psych.
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    User evaluation and feasibility test of an app designed for smoking cessation in Italian people who smoke: preliminary findings from an uncontrolled pre-test post-test open study
    Pasquale Caponnetto, Mirko Casu, David Crane, and 3 more authors
    BMC Psychology, Nov 2023
  2. FSIDIIN
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    GenAI mirage: The impostor bias and the deepfake detection challenge in the era of artificial illusions
    Mirko Casu, Luca Guarnera, Pasquale Caponnetto, and 1 more author
    Forensic Science International: Digital Investigation, Jun 2024
  3. Appl. Sci.
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    AI Chatbots for Mental Health: A Scoping Review of Effectiveness, Feasibility, and Applications
    Mirko Casu, Sergio Triscari, Sebastiano Battiato, and 2 more authors
    Applied Sciences, Jul 2024
  4. JBHI
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    Smoking Detection and Cessation: An Updated Scoping Review of Digital and Mobile Health Technologies
    Mirko Casu, Francesco Guarnera, Giusy Rita Maria La Rosa, and 4 more authors
    IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, Mar 2025