Cora Dvorkin

Cora Dvorkin is a Professor of Physics at Harvard University, affiliated with the Department of Physics. She is a theoretical cosmologist specializing in dark matter, light relics, and the early universe, with expertise in CMB, large-scale structure, and gravitational lensing analyses. Her research includes developing methods to detect dark matter substructure using lensing, advancing CMB-S4 experiment science cases, and applying machine learning to cosmological data.

Education: Earned a Diploma in Physics from the University of Buenos Aires, a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Chicago (2011), and completed postdoctoral research at the Institute for Advanced Study (2011-2014) and Harvard's Institute for Theory and Computation (2014-2015). She is a recipient of the DOE Early Career Award (2019), Harvard Foundation Scientist of the Year (2018), and multiple fellowships including the Radcliffe Institute Fellowship.

Research Interests: Focus on probing dark matter interactions via CMB and LSS, light relic constraints, early universe inflationary models, and innovative data analysis techniques (e.g., wavelet transforms, machine learning). Her group pioneered the 'Generalized Slow Roll' formalism for inflationary potential reconstruction and demonstrated line-of-sight halo contributions in lensing systems.

Collaborations: Member of CMB-S4, Vera Rubin Observatory’s DESC, and the PIXIE mission. She co-leads CMB-S4’s inflation analysis and chairs the IAIFI Board. Her work influences next-generation experiments, including guiding the Dark Energy Survey’s BSM analysis.

Teaching and Outreach: Recognized as 'Favorite Professor' by Harvard seniors (2022), emphasizing STEM education. Active in mentoring and public engagement, balancing research leadership with academic service.