T.L. Taylor is a Professor of Comparative Media Studies at MIT, affiliated with the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. She holds the Margaret MacVicar Faculty Fellow distinction and directs the MIT Game Lab. Her expertise spans online gaming culture, sociology of technology, and digital media studies. Taylor’s research bridges qualitative methods with critical analyses of virtual worlds, esports, and live-streaming platforms. Education: M.A. (1997) and Ph.D. (2000) from Brandeis University; B.A. (1990) from UC Berkeley; community college graduate (Chaffey, 1988). She has taught courses on critical internet studies, qualitative methods, and gaming at MIT. Taylor co-founded the non-profit AnyKey and served on Twitch’s Safety Advisory Council (2020–2024), advocating for inclusive gaming environments. Research interests include digital culture, ethnography of online spaces, and the socio-technical dynamics of games. Her award-winning book Watch Me Play: Twitch and the Rise of Game Live Streaming (2018) explores live-streaming’s cultural impact. She also authored Raising the Stakes (2012) on esports professionalization and Play Between Worlds (2006) on MMOG communities. Awards include the 2019 MacVicar Faculty Fellow for undergraduate teaching excellence and the ASA CITAMS Book Award. Her work intersects academia and industry, with consulting roles at Microsoft Research and contributions to policy discussions at the White House and International Olympics Committee. Taylor’s current projects include studies on play in curated environments like Disney parks and the evolving socio-technical assemblages of theme parks. She advises on civic initiatives and regularly publishes on esports diversity, platform moderation, and digital cultural practices.
Florian Jacques is a Researcher at the University of Namur, affiliated with the Faculty of Law and the Namur Digital Institute. He holds a Doctorate from the University of Namur (2019). His research focuses on digital law, data protection, AI ethics, and EU regulatory frameworks. Jacques has led and collaborated on projects like the eIDAS legal study and a training initiative on government-to-government information exchange. His work bridges legal challenges posed by emerging technologies, with notable contributions to AI policy, pandemic governance, and digital identity regulations. He has published extensively across journals and edited volumes, including analyses of the DSA/DMA frameworks and APD jurisprudence. Education: Doctorate in Law, University of Namur (2019) His research interests center on digital transformation’s legal implications, particularly in data governance, e-commerce, and public policy. Jacques has analyzed how pandemic responses exposed gaps in legislative frameworks and explored ethical dimensions of AI applications like ChatGPT. His publications reflect a cross-disciplinary approach to modern legal challenges in digital spaces. Notable projects include a 2025 study on eIDAS modernization and a training program on international data exchange protocols. While no formal awards are listed, his active research output (24+ publications since 2019) underscores his academic engagement. He collaborates with institutions like the Centre de Recherche Information, Droit et Société (CRIDS) and contributes to policy-oriented research teams.
Mahzarin R. Banaji is the Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics at Harvard University and a Harvard College Professor. She is affiliated with the Department of Psychology and is a key figure in the Mind, Brain, and Behavior (MBB) Interfaculty Initiative. Her research is centered at the intersection of social cognition, implicit bias, and ethical behavior. Institution: Harvard University School: Harvard College Department: Psychology Email: banaji@fas.harvard.edu Dr. Banaji earned her Ph.D. from Ohio State University and has been a leading scholar in the study of unconscious bias. Her work explores how implicit attitudes shape perception, judgment, and behavior outside conscious awareness. She co-developed the Implicit Association Test (IAT) , a groundbreaking tool for measuring unconscious biases related to race, gender, age, and other social categories. Her research spans social cognition, prejudice, stereotyping, moral psychology, and the neuroscience of social behavior . More recently, she has extended her work into the domain of artificial intelligence, investigating how human-like biases emerge in large language models. The 15 most recent publications reflect a strong trend toward computational social science , combining psychological theory with natural language processing and AI. Her team analyzes bias in digital corpora, studies the transmission of stereotypes in AI systems, and develops tools to measure intersectional and implicit attitudes at scale. These works bridge psychology, ethics, and technology, highlighting the societal implications of implicit cognition. Among her notable scientific honors are: Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences William James Fellow Guggenheim Fellowship Kurt Lewin Award (SPSSI) Harvard College Professorship Dr. Banaji has advised numerous graduate students, including Tessa Charlesworth and Kerry Morehouse, many of whom are now active researchers in social and cognitive psychology. She has secured major grants through the Mind, Brain, and Behavior Initiative and has led interdisciplinary teams exploring bias in education, law, and technology. She is also the co-creator of OutsmartingHumanMinds.org , a public education platform on implicit bias. Her lab serves as a hub for collaborative research on implicit social cognition, bringing together psychologists, neuroscientists, and computer scientists to understand and mitigate unconscious bias in human and artificial systems.
Lesley Gourlay is a Professor of Education at the IOE - Culture, Communication & Media , part of University College London . She has held leadership roles including Director of the Academic Writing Centre (2010-2020) and Head of the Department of Culture, Communication and Media (2014-2018). Research Focus: Science and Technology Studies in Education, Posthuman Theory, Sociomaterialism, Digital Engagement Awards: Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship (2021-2025) for 'The Datafied University' Her publications explore postdigital education, algorithmic governance, and digital performativity. Recent work includes the open-access monograph The University and the Algorithmic Gaze (2025) and co-editing the Palgrave Handbook of Science and Technology Studies in Education . She is currently working on two forthcoming monographs: The University and the Writing Machine and Weave: The Making of Meaning . Lesley's scientific contributions analyze digital education through postphenomenological, sociomaterial, and posthumanist lenses. Key themes include learning analytics, AI's role in education, and the materiality of digital practices. Her work challenges binary distinctions between online/campus education and human/nonhuman agency. Collaboration Network: Extensive co-authorships with scholars like Petar Jandrić, Clara O’Shea, and Martin Oliver. She co-organizes the UK-wide Digital University Network and contributes to journals such as Postdigital Science and Education and Educational Philosophy and Theory .
Professor Sandra Wachter is a leading academic in legal and ethical implications of AI, Big Data, and robotics at the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) , University of Oxford, and as Humboldt Professor at the Hasso Plattner Institute. She leads the OII's governance of emerging technologies (GET) research programme , focusing on AI regulation, algorithmic bias, and human rights. Affiliations : Berkman Klein Center (Harvard University), World Economic Forum, UNESCO, IEEE, World Bank, Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, Oxford Martin School, and more. Research : Legal and ethical frameworks for AI, explainability (notably Counterfactual Explanations ), fairness metrics, and combating algorithmic discrimination through her Conditional Demographic Disparity (CDD) tool. Awards : Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Award (2025), O2RB Excellence in Impact Award (2021, 2018), Computer Weekly Women in UK Tech (2021), Privacy Law Scholar (2019), CognitionX Outstanding Achievements (2023, 2017). Impact : Her work is implemented by Google, IBM, Amazon, and Microsoft; influences NHS and MHRA policies; and has been cited in major media outlets including The New York Times, BBC, and Nature.
Rhonda Hadi is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. She is also a Fellow of Green Templeton College and an Associate Editor at the Journal of Consumer Psychology , serving on editorial review boards for Journal of Consumer Research , Journal of Marketing Research , and Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science . Her research focuses on emerging technologies reshaping consumer experiences, including augmented reality, AI, and wearable/mobile computing. She explores crossmodal perception, cultural influences on consumer behavior, and sensory-driven decision-making. Rhonda teaches the Core Marketing course for the MBA programme and contributes to Executive MBA, Diploma in AI for Business, and executive education courses. Her engagements span industry collaborations with Fortune 500 firms, startups, and non-profits, emphasizing practical applications of her research. She is a key member of the Oxford Future of Marketing Initiative , fostering academic-industry partnerships for thought leadership. Her research interests prominently feature technology-augmented consumer behavior , particularly in multisensory interactions (e.g., haptics, temperature, scent) and how cultural contexts modulate these responses. She has pioneered studies on anthropomorphic products, chatbot ethics, and the psychological impact of digital tools like AR and the Metaverse. Rhonda received the John Elliot Teaching Award and regularly engages with media outlets like the BBC to disseminate her findings. She has delivered over 50 invited talks globally, addressing North America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. In advising and grants, she mentors students across MBA and executive programmes and secures funding via Oxford’s initiatives. Her work intersects with the Major Programme Management and Private Equity Institute , though direct grant references are not explicitly detailed. She actively participates in interdisciplinary teams at Oxford Saïd, such as the Oxford Future of Finance and Technology Initiative and the Social Thermoregulation Project , integrating insights from psychology, technology, and business strategy.
Prof. Dr. Judith Möller is the Scientific Director of the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow Institute (HBI) and holds a joint professorship at the University of Hamburg's Institute for Journalism and Communication Studies. Her research focuses on political communication effects, media's role in public opinion formation, and algorithmic impacts on society. She previously served as Associate Professor at the University of Amsterdam and Adjunct Professor at the University of Trondheim. Key awards include the 2019 VENI Talent Track grant from NWO for her work on AI-driven societal effects. Her collaborative projects address disinformation, media regulation, and AI ethics. She advises institutions like ERGA, EPRA, and German media authorities, emphasizing practical applications of her research. Notable contributions include the Reuters Digital News Report series and studies on generative AI's societal implications. Education: Previous academic roles at University of Amsterdam & Trondheim. Affiliated with ASCoR, CPC, and ICDS research initiatives.
Sarah Sharma is a Professor of Media Theory at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information and Director of the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology (ICCIT). Her work interrogates intersections of technology, temporality, and labor through a feminist lens. She has held leadership roles in the McLuhan Centre (2017–2022) and is recognized for advancing critical media theory. Research focuses include: • Temporality’s role in cultural politics • Feminist reimaginings of McLuhan’s media theory • Digital platforms’ socio-political impacts • Labour dynamics in gig economies (e.g., TaskRabbit). Her upcoming book Insufferable Tools: Big Tech and the Broken Machine critiques tech industry failures. Key achievements: • 2024 Desmond Morton Research Excellence Award • 2014 NCA Critical Cultural Book of the Year for In the Meantime: Temporality and Cultural Politics . Her edited volume Re-Understanding Media (2022) exemplifies feminist extensions of media theory. Recent engagements include keynote addresses at the Canadian Communication Association (June 2025) and University of Michigan’s Digital Ideas Workshop (June 2025). She critiques ‘accelerationist’ narratives about technology and advocates for rethinking media through marginalized perspectives.
Dr. J.P. de Ruiter is a Professor in both the Psychology and Computer Science departments at Tufts University. He holds a PhD from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics and a Drs (equivalent to MS) from Radboud University. His research focuses on the cognitive foundations of human communication, including how humans and artificial agents use language, gesture, and multimodal signals to communicate. He previously served as Chair of Psycholinguistics at Bielefeld University and founded the Natural Communication HD Lab there. Research Interests: Cognition and Psycholinguistics Computational models of conversation Artificial Intelligence applications in communication Social robotics and intention recognition Recent work investigates top-down effects of dialogue coherence on speaker identity perception and limitations of Large Language Models in conversational timing. His lab (Human Interaction Lab) explores human-machine interaction through datasets and algorithms enhancing social communication.
Professor Stephen Cave is the Academic Director of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (CFI) and Co-Director of the Institute for Technology and Humanity at the University of Cambridge. With a PhD in Philosophy from Cambridge, he previously served as a policy advisor and diplomat in the British Foreign Office for nearly a decade before returning to academia. Education: PhD in Philosophy, University of Cambridge Current Roles: Academic Director (CFI), Co-Director (Institute for Technology and Humanity) Media Engagement: Regular contributor to Financial Times , Guardian , New York Times , and media appearances on BBC and NPR His research bridges philosophy and ethics of technology , with two primary strands: (1) the ethics of AI and robotics , focusing on responsible AI development and societal impact through works like AI Narratives and Feminist AI ; and (2) the ethics of life-extension and immortality , explored in Immortality and Should You Choose to Live Forever? . Recent publications analyze algorithmic fairness, gender representation in AI narratives, and digital death. The articles listed reflect his engagement with responsible AI frameworks , cultural portrayals of AI , and existential implications of life extension . His work often synthesizes historical, ethical, and cultural perspectives to address contemporary challenges in AI governance and mortality philosophy.
Juan Garay is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering at Texas A&M University, affiliated with the College of Engineering. His research focuses on cryptography, information security, and distributed systems, with notable contributions to cryptographic protocols, blockchain technologies, and consensus mechanisms. He holds a leadership role in advancing theoretical and applied aspects of secure computation and network security. Research Interests: Cryptography and Information Security Secure Multiparty Computation Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Protocols Consensus Algorithms Distributed Computing Game Theory in Cryptography Publications highlight his work on the Bitcoin Backbone Protocol, secure multiparty computation, and post-quantum cryptographic systems. He actively contributes to conferences and workshops in cryptography and distributed systems. He advises graduate students in computer science and engineering, though specific advisee names are not listed. His work is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other institutions, focusing on secure protocols and distributed systems. Office: Peterson Building (PETR 429) Contact: garay@cse.tamu.edu
Ramina Sotoudeh is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Yale University with a secondary appointment in Statistics & Data Science. Her research bridges sociogenomics, the sociology of culture, and social inequality, focusing on how genetic and social environments interact to shape human behavior. Education : BA in Social Research and Public Policy from NYU Abu Dhabi, PhD in Sociology from Princeton University Postdoctoral Experience : Fellow at Nuffield College, University of Oxford Ramina’s work in sociogenomics examines how institutional, relational, and genetic contexts influence health outcomes, such as smoking behavior and peer interactions. Her sociology of culture projects use relational methods to explore cultural frameworks underlying attitudes toward science, religion, politics, and marriage. She also investigates health disparities and inequality through interdisciplinary lenses. Her most recent publications analyze genomic population structure, behavioral plasticity, and computational approaches to algorithm selection. Earlier works focus on cultural attitudes, behavioral diffusion in networks, and genetic correlations with education and longevity. These studies span journals like American Sociological Review , PNAS , and Demography .
Dr. Xiaodong Lin is a Professor at the University of Guelph's School of Computer Science and an IEEE Fellow (2017) for contributions to secure vehicular communications. He leads the Blockchain Technology and Cybersecurity (BTC) lab, focusing on privacy-enhancing technologies, digital forensics, wireless network security, blockchain applications, and DeFi security. PhD, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, China PhD, University of Waterloo, Canada His research bridges theoretical and applied domains in cybersecurity, particularly vehicular networks, smart grids, and decentralized systems. Recent work examines blockchain security, privacy-preserving protocols for IoT, and secure data aggregation in wireless networks. Key publication trends include secure fog computing for vehicular crowdsensing, privacy-preserving authentication in 5G, and cryptographic solutions for smart grids. Awards highlight multiple Best Paper recognitions at IEEE conferences. IEEE Fellow (2017) Best Paper Awards (IEEE INFOCOM 2018, GLOBECOM 2017, SECURECOMM 2016) Dr. Lin supervises graduate students in blockchain security, AI security, and digital forensics. His lab provides financial support to qualified students.
Dana Pe'er is a Professor and Chair of the Computational and Systems Biology Program at the Sloan Kettering Institute (SKI) of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She is also an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and holds the Alan and Sandra Gerry Endowed Chair. Dr. Pe'er leads an interdisciplinary research group that combines advanced genomics approaches with machine learning to address fundamental questions in biomedical science, with particular focus on cancer biology, developmental biology, and immunology. Dr. Pe'er earned her PhD from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel. Her academic journey includes a postdoctoral fellowship with George Church at Harvard Medical School. Before joining Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in 2016, she held faculty positions at Columbia University. Dr. Pe'er's research focuses on understanding cellular plasticity, the consequences of intra-tumor heterogeneity, cancer evolution and metastasis, and the mechanisms by which regulatory circuits go awry in disease. Her lab combines single-cell and spatial profiling technologies with machine learning approaches to investigate gene regulation, cellular plasticity, and cell-cell communication in the contexts of cancer, immunity, and development. They are particularly interested in how organisms develop from a single cell to generate diverse cell types, how epigenetic control rewires during development, and how cells communicate to execute multicellular responses. Analysis of Dr. Pe'er's recent publications reveals a strong focus on developing computational methods for single-cell and spatial genomics data analysis. Her work spans cancer types including pancreatic, prostate, colorectal, and breast cancer, with emphasis on tumor heterogeneity, metastasis mechanisms, and cellular plasticity. A significant portion of her research involves creating novel algorithms and tools like CellRank, REUNION, and SEACells that enable researchers to extract meaningful biological insights from complex genomic datasets. 2023 Class of 2023 Inductee - American Academy of Cancer Research (AACR) Academy 2023 Innovator Award - International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) 2021 Fellow - International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator (2021) 2019 Ernst W. Bertner Memorial Award - University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center 2016 Lenfest Distinguished Faculty Award - Columbia University 2014 Director's Pioneer Award - National Institutes of Health 2014 Overton Prize - International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) Dr. Pe'er is known for her dedicated mentorship approach, describing herself as "a mama bear" who cares deeply about her trainees while expecting independence, innovation, and hard work. She mentors numerous PhD students and postdocs in her lab. Her HHMI Investigator award provides approximately $9 million over seven years, enabling ambitious research directions. She also collaborates extensively with the Single-cell Analytics and Innovation Lab (SAIL) at MSK to generate new data from emerging technologies, working closely with wet-lab collaborators at MSK and beyond to apply computational methods to cutting-edge datasets across multiple disease areas. The Pe'er Lab is an interdisciplinary group of computational biologists with diverse backgrounds ranging from pure mathematics to clinical medicine. They work closely with wet-lab collaborators to apply their computational methods to cutting-edge datasets across cancer, immunology, and developmental biology. The lab is described as open, supportive, collaborative, and fun, with access to world-class facilities at the Sloan Kettering Institute. Dr. Pe'er's work continues to push the boundaries of computational biology and cancer research, with the ultimate goal of developing more effective, personalized therapies for cancer patients.
Ghaith Hiary is a Professor and Vice Chair for Graduate Recruitment in the Department of Mathematics at The Ohio State University. He holds a PhD from the University of Minnesota (2008). His research focuses on computational and analytic number theory, with emphasis on the Riemann zeta function, L-functions, random matrix theory, and asymptotic analysis. Hiary's work bridges theoretical mathematics and high-performance computation. He develops efficient algorithms (e.g., amortized-complexity methods) to evaluate zeta functions at extreme heights (e.g., near t=10 28 ), implemented in C++/Mathematica. His research uses random matrix models to study zeta-function moments and employs techniques like van der Corput estimates and hybrid methods for explicit bounds. His publications demonstrate consistent focus on zeta-function computations, factorization algorithms, and arithmetic biases. Recent work (2022-2025) explores invariant measures, Lehman's method generalizations, and sign changes in random multiplicative functions, maintaining strong ties to analytic and probabilistic number theory. Hiary shares code and datasets via GitHub, including implementations of T 1/3 algorithms for zeta computations. He collaborates with institutions like the University of Waterloo and maintains numerical databases of zeta zeros.
