Anwar Hithnawi is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of Toronto, where he leads the Privacy Preserving Systems Lab (PPS Lab). His research focuses on data privacy, applied cryptography, and secure systems, with emphasis on privacy-preserving machine learning, federated learning, and encrypted data processing. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from ETH Zurich and was a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley. Previously, he served as an Ambizione Fellow and research group leader at ETH Zurich. Research Interests: Data Privacy & Security Applied Cryptography (Homomorphic Encryption, Zero-Knowledge Proofs) Privacy-Preserving Systems (Federated Learning, Secure Analytics) IoT Security & Privacy Secure Collaborative Learning Awards: Google Research Award SNF Ambizione Grant ETH Medal for Outstanding Master Thesis (student Lukas Burkhalter) Microsoft Research Ph.D. Award (student Lukas Burkhalter) Lab Activities: The PPS Lab develops systems for privacy-preserving computation, secure collaborative learning, and encrypted data stream processing. Notable projects include Zeph, HECO, and Cohere. Recent achievements include acceptance of DPolicy at IEEE S&P 2025 and RoFL at Oakland 2023.
Dr. Mohamed Ibrahem is an Assistant Professor at the School of Computer and Cyber Sciences, Augusta University, USA. His research focuses on Cyber-Security, IoT Privacy, and Machine Learning applications in Smart Grids and Cyber-Physical Systems. He received a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Tennessee Tech University in 2021 and has been recognized with prestigious awards including the IEEE Senior Member (2024) and the Eminence Award for Best Ph.D. Paper (2021). Education: Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering, Tennessee Tech University (2021) Research Interests: Security and Privacy in IoT, Applied Cryptography, Privacy-preserving Machine Learning, Secure Federated Learning, Smart Grid Cyber-Security, and Traffic Analysis Attacks. Publications: His work emphasizes privacy-preserving techniques in smart grids, federated learning for anomaly detection, and robust countermeasures against cyber-attacks. Recent trends include leveraging deep learning for real-time fraud detection in AMI systems and developing efficient decentralized learning frameworks. Awards: IEEE Senior Member (2024) Top 2% Scientists List (Stanford/Elsevier, 2024) Eminence Award for Best Ph.D. Paper (Tennessee Tech University, 2021) Advising & Grants: Supervises graduate research in Dissertation and Master's Thesis projects. Active in securing grants for IoT and Cyber-Security initiatives. Collaborates with industry partners on edge computing and secure AMI networks.
Alexandra Boldyreva is a Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, holding joint appointments in the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy and the School of Computer Science. She serves as Associate Chair for Graduate Studies in the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy and coordinates the Information Security Master’s program in the College of Computing. Her affiliations include the Institute for Information Security & Privacy (IISP), the Algorithms, Combinatorics and Optimization (ACO) program, and the Algorithms and Randomness Center (ARC). She earned her Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of California, San Diego, and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in applied mathematics from St. Petersburg State Technical University, Russia. Her research focuses on cryptography and information security, with notable contributions to encryption methods, authentication protocols, and privacy-preserving systems. Boldyreva’s work emphasizes provable security analysis of protocols like FIDO2 and TLS 1.3, as well as searchable encryption and data privacy techniques. Her recent studies include secure communication channel establishment, leakage quantification in encryption systems, and applications of fuzzy search in encrypted databases. She has received Test of Time Awards for foundational contributions to cryptography. Boldyreva leads initiatives in cybersecurity education and has secured grants for research in secure communication protocols and human-computing approaches to key exchange. Her interdisciplinary collaborations span computer science, mathematics, and privacy engineering.
Florian Kerschbaum is a Professor and NSERC/RBC Industrial Research Chair in Data Security at the Cheriton School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo. His research focuses on data security and privacy, applied cryptography, and confidentiality in data science. Research interests span data collection/preparation management, secure multi-party computation, homomorphic encryption, differential privacy, and machine learning robustness/privacy. His work develops cryptographic solutions for practical data management challenges in distributed systems.
Ari Juels is the Weill Family Foundation and Joan and Sanford I. Weill Professor at Cornell Tech (Cornell University) and a faculty member in the Department of Computer Science. He co-founded and co-directs the Initiative for CryptoCurrencies and Contracts (IC³) and serves as Chief Scientist at Chainlink Labs. His research focuses on blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, smart contracts, applied cryptography, authentication, and privacy. Juels holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from UC Berkeley and previously held roles as Chief Scientist and Director of the RSA Laboratories at EMC/Dell EMC until 2013. His work spans foundational contributions to decentralized systems, including Chainlink’s oracle networks and Ekiden’s privacy-preserving smart contracts. Juels has authored influential books like *The Oracle* (2024) and *Tetraktys* (2009), blending cryptography with thriller narratives. He advises numerous students and alumni, many of whom have joined prominent blockchain firms like Chainlink Labs, Mysten Labs, and Espresso Systems. Recent publications explore topics such as liquidity in blockchain assets, oracle network security, and economic analysis of smart contracts. His research emphasizes practical applications of cryptographic principles to real-world challenges in digital systems and decentralized finance. Juels’ lab collaborates on projects like HyDRA (automated bug bounty systems) and Lanturn (economic security metrics). He actively participates in academic and industry partnerships, bridging theoretical computer science with applied blockchain innovation.
Vassilis Zikas is an Associate Professor at the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy and holds a courtesy appointment in the School of Computer Science at Georgia Tech. He previously held positions at Purdue University, the University of Edinburgh, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). His research focuses on cryptography, blockchain technologies, cryptocurrencies, game theory, and distributed computing. He leads the Blockchain Lab at Georgia Tech and serves as Chief Scientist at Sunday Group, where he contributes to the Mobby blockchain architecture. His work is supported by the NSF, DoD, Swiss NSF, and industry partners like Sunday Group and Algorand Foundation. He has organized major conferences including PKC 2020 and has served on program committees for EUROCRYPT, CRYPTO, and TCC. He advises PhD students in cryptography and related fields and has mentored postdocs and master’s students. Zikas’ publications span topics like secure multi-party computation (MPC), blockchain security, and cryptographic protocol design. His recent work includes advancements in privacy-preserving protocols, adaptive security frameworks, and composability in blockchain systems. Notable awards include the 2023 Leadership Award from Purdue College of Science and an AnlytiXIN Fellowship. He actively contributes to both theoretical and applied aspects of cybersecurity and privacy through academic and industrial collaborations.
University of California , Santa Barbara (UCSB)United States
Dmitri Strukov is a Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His work spans material science, electrical engineering, and computer science, focusing on novel computing paradigms using emerging memory devices. Education: PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from SUNY Stony Brook, MS in Applied Physics and Mathematics from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. Research Interests include neuromorphic computing , non-volatile memory applications , and mixed-signal circuits for machine learning and hardware security. His group develops memristive crossbar arrays and 3D NAND flash for energy-efficient systems. Scientific Leadership features Fellow of IEEE and Distinguished Lecturer roles. His work has been recognized with best paper awards at ASPLOS’19 and Computing Frontiers’13. Students: Mentored PhD graduates in neurocomputing, security, and memristor design including Z. Fahimi, S. Larimian, M.R. Mahmoodi, and X. Guo. Grants: Funded by AFOSR, ARO, DARPA, NSF, and industry leaders like Google and Samsung. Labs: Utilizes UCSB’s nanofabrication center and advanced tools for memristor characterization.
Deian Stefan is an Associate Professor at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering . His research spans security , programming languages , and systems , with a focus on building principled and practical secure systems. He has served as a co-founder and Chief Scientist at Intrinsic (acquired by VMWare) and contributed to standards bodies like the W3C WebAppSec and Node.js Security Working Groups . His research interests include: Secure Systems : Web frameworks, browser designs, sandboxing, runtime systems Language-Based Security : Constant-time programming, memory safety, information flow control Verification : Security verification, static/symbolic analysis tools WebAssembly and JavaScript JITs security Deian Stefan has received multiple scientific awards , including several Distinguished Paper Awards at venues like POPL, ICFP, and USENIX Security, as well as the IEEE Cybersecurity Award for Practice (2022) and CSAW 2020 First Place for Applied Research. He has taught courses on Computer Security (CSE 127, CSE 227) and advanced topics in Building Secure Systems (CSE 291) using Rust, WebAssembly, and blockchain security. His work has been supported by collaborations with industry and academia, including projects like RLBox and COWL .
Ferdinando Fioretto is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of Virginia, leading the Responsible AI for Science and Engineering (RAISE) group. His research focuses on foundational challenges in AI, privacy, fairness, and the intersection of machine learning and optimization. He holds a dual PhD in Computer Science from the University of Udine and New Mexico State University. Affiliations: University of Virginia (current), Syracuse University (former), Georgia Institute of Technology (postdoc), University of Michigan (research fellow) Education: PhD (Udine & NMSU), B.S. (University of Parma) Research Interests: Machine Learning, Responsible AI, Optimization, Differential Privacy, Algorithmic Fairness. His work emphasizes practical applications in energy systems, court scheduling, and privacy-preserving machine learning. Recent projects include neuro-symbolic diffusion models, fairness-aware optimization, and privacy guarantees in LLMs. Grants & Funding: NSF CAREER Award, Google Faculty Research Award, Amazon Research Award, NVIDIA Academic Grant, and grants from the LaCross Institute and 4-VA. His group collaborates with institutions like George Mason University and Virginia Tech. Key Awards: NSF CAREER (2022), IJCAI Early Career Spotlight (2022), Caspar Bowden PET Award (2022), ACP Early Career Researcher Award (2021) Labs/Teams: RAISE group at UVA, focused on trustworthy AI, fair optimization, and privacy-preserving systems. Active in organizing workshops like NeurIPS Algorithmic Fairness and AAAI Privacy-Preserving AI.
Professor Rainer Böhme is a prominent academic in the field of IT security and privacy at the University of Münster's School of Business and Economics, Department of Information Systems. He also holds a professorship for Security and Privacy at the University of Innsbruck's Institute of Computer Science. His research spans multiple dimensions of digital security, with particular expertise in steganography, digital forensics, privacy-enhancing technologies, and the economic aspects of cybersecurity. Dr. Böhme earned his Doctoral Degree from TU Dresden's Faculty of Computer Science in 2008, following studies in Communications, Economics and Computer Science at Technische Universität Dresden and Université Paris XII. His academic journey includes positions as Assistant Professor at the University of Münster (2010-2015), Postdoctoral Fellow at the International Computer Science Institute in Berkeley (2009-2010), and Scientific Staff at TU Dresden's Chair of Privacy and Data Security. His research interests focus on steganography and steganalysis, digital forensics, privacy-enhancing technologies, security and usability, economic and behavioral aspects of information privacy, virtual currencies, and the economics of information security. His work bridges technical security mechanisms with economic and behavioral considerations, creating a unique interdisciplinary approach to cybersecurity challenges. Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong trend toward the economics of security, particularly regarding blockchain technologies, cryptocurrency, and privacy valuation. His work increasingly examines the intersection of technical security mechanisms with market dynamics, regulatory frameworks, and user behavior. The research spans theoretical game-theoretic models, empirical studies of user behavior, and practical applications in digital forensics and privacy protection. Program Co-Chair, Financial Cryptography and Data Security (2015) Program Co-Chair, New Security Paradigms Workshop (NSPW) (2015) General Chair, 8th International Conference on IT Security Incident Management & IT Forensics (2014) Organizer and Program Co-Chair, 1st Workshop on Bitcoin Research (2014) Associate Editor, Electronic Commerce Research (since 2013) Associate Editor, EURASIP Journal on Information Security (since 2013) Professor Böhme has supervised multiple Master's theses in Information Systems, including work on static code analysis for smart contracts, remote maintenance protocol security, and application protection requirements in retail banking. His research is supported by significant grants from the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space, the DFG, and the EU FP7 program, with projects focusing on digital forensics, privacy-enhancing technologies, and cryptocurrency crime prevention. He leads the IT Security Research Group at the University of Münster, which investigates theoretical and applied aspects of information security with particular emphasis on the economic dimensions of security decisions.
Ben Fisch is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Yale University's School of Engineering & Applied Science. He is also the co-founder of Espresso Systems, a company focused on blockchain infrastructure. His research focuses on privacy and verifiability in decentralized systems like Bitcoin and Ethereum, with applications in digital finance and healthcare. Dr. Fisch received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and completed his Ph.D. at Stanford University, where he worked with Dan Boneh in the applied cryptography research group. His educational background provided the foundation for his work at the intersection of cryptography, distributed systems, and economics. His research centers on leveraging cryptographic tools such as succinct non-interactive zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs), private information retrieval, and homomorphic encryption to address challenges in verifiable computation, verifiable storage, and verifiable fairness. He has made significant contributions to verifiable delay functions (VDFs) and proofs of replication, which have been adopted by major blockchain projects including Ethereum 2.0, Chia, and Filecoin. His work on Filecoin's Proofs of Replication has helped the network reach over 1.5 exabytes of storage capacity. His publication record shows a clear trend toward increasingly sophisticated cryptographic protocols for blockchain applications, with recent work focusing on data availability for Bitcoin rollups, efficient folding schemes for pairing-based arguments, and privacy pools with proof-carrying disclosures. His research bridges theoretical cryptography with practical implementations that have real-world impact in decentralized systems. His notable recognition includes: Best Paper Finalist at ACM CCS 2017 for 'Iron: Functional Encryption using Intel SGX' Dr. Fisch's research has led to significant technology transfer, most notably with his work on Verifiable Delay Functions (VDFs) sparking a multimillion dollar industry initiative through the VDF Alliance. His research on Proofs of Replication forms the basis of Filecoin's incentive layer and consensus protocol. His newer SNARK system Basefold is being used by several commercial products. He maintains active collaborations across academia and industry, with publications spanning top conferences in cryptography and security. As co-founder of Espresso Systems, Dr. Fisch leads a team developing next-generation blockchain infrastructure, particularly focusing on sequencing layers for rollups. His work bridges academic research with practical implementation, ensuring that theoretical advances in cryptography find real-world applications in decentralized systems.
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in LausanneSwitzerland
Alessandro Chiesa is an Associate Professor at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in the School of Computer and Communication Sciences, holding positions across multiple departments including Computer Security (COMPSEC), SSC, SIN, and EDIC. His office is located at BC 245 in Building BC, Station 14, Lausanne, Switzerland. Chiesa's research spans cryptography, complexity theory, and computer security, with particular focus on the theoretical foundations and practical implementations of cryptographic proofs that are short and easy to verify. His work bridges theoretical computer science with real-world applications, especially in blockchain technology and privacy-preserving systems. He has made significant contributions to zero-knowledge proof systems, including zkSNARKs, and their applications in cryptocurrency. His publications reveal a strong focus on cryptographic protocols, with particular emphasis on privacy-preserving technologies. The analysis of his articles shows consistent work in applying mathematical foundations to practical security problems, especially in the domain of blockchain and digital currencies. His research demonstrates expertise in both theoretical aspects of cryptography and their implementation in real systems. IEEE SP Test-of-Time Award (2024) Sloan Research Fellowship (2021) Okawa Foundation Research Grant (2020) Google Faculty Research Awards (2018 and 2017) MIT Technology Review's 35 Innovators Under 35 list (2018) Chiesa has supervised multiple PhD students including Di Zijing, Fenzi Giacomo, Guan Ziyi, Knabenhans Christian Louis, Manzur Ignacio, Weissenberg Guy, and Zheng Yuxi. His teaching includes Algorithms I, Foundations of Probabilistic Proofs, and Lattice-based Cryptography. He co-founded Zcash and StarkWare Industries, translating his theoretical research into practical applications that have significantly impacted the cryptocurrency space.
Kristofer Pister is a Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. He co-directs the Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center (BSAC) and the Ubiquitous Swarm Lab. His career spans groundbreaking innovations in Micro/Nano Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS), Control Systems, and Low-Power Circuits, with a focus on Smart Dust and synthetic insects. Education: Ph.D. and M.S. in EECS from UC Berkeley (1992, 1989); B.A. in Applied Physics from UC San Diego (1986). His research areas include MEMS , Control Systems , Robotics , and Integrated Circuits , with recent work on self-powered micro-sensors, crystal-free radios, and interplanetary swarm networks. Key awards include the ISA Albert F. Sperry Founder Award (2009) , Alexander Schwarzkopf Prize (2006) , and the NSF CAREER Award (1996) . He has authored numerous influential publications in wireless sensor networks and microrobotics. His lab, Ubiquitous Swarm Lab , explores distributed robotics and swarm intelligence. Pister emphasizes open collaboration in research, ethical conduct in academia, and efficient resource utilization for graduate students.
University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignUnited States
Andrew Miller is an Associate Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at the University of Illinois, specializing in Programming Languages, Formal Methods, Software Engineering, Security and Privacy, and Systems and Networking. His research focuses on blockchain technologies, cryptography, and secure systems. Professor Miller's research spans multiple critical areas in modern computer security. His work primarily focuses on blockchain technologies , where he has made significant contributions to understanding and improving the security, privacy, and performance of systems like Bitcoin and Ethereum. He has conducted empirical analyses of privacy in the Lightning Network and developed protocols for confidential smart contracts. His work in cryptography includes research on multiparty computation, zero-knowledge proofs, and formal methods for cryptographic protocol design. Miller also investigates security vulnerabilities in proof-of-stake systems and resource exhaustion attacks, contributing to the robustness of decentralized systems. His applied security research extends to privacy-preserving health applications, as evidenced by his work on the Safer Illinois platform for COVID-19 contact tracing. Miller's publication record demonstrates consistent contributions to top security and systems venues including IEEE Security & Privacy, ACM CCS, Financial Cryptography, and USENIX Security. His research shows a clear trajectory from foundational work in blockchain security to more applied systems addressing real-world privacy and security challenges. Recent work focuses on making multiparty computation services publicly auditable and developing decentralized identity solutions that maintain compatibility with existing systems. Distinguished Reviewer Award, IEEE Security & Privacy 2018 Professor Miller has advised students including Vivek Nair, who joined the prestigious Hertz Fellows program in 2022. He has taught various courses including Introduction to Algorithms & Models of Computation, Advanced Computer Security, Cryptography, Applied Cryptography, and Ideal Functionality in Cryptography. His research has received support through grants including the SaTC: CORE: Medium project on "Automated Support for Writing High-Assurance Smart Contracts" in 2018. Miller is actively involved in research groups focusing on blockchain security, cryptographic protocols, and privacy-preserving systems. His lab appears to collaborate extensively with researchers across multiple institutions, as evidenced by the diverse author lists on his publications. Current work seems to be focused on making decentralized systems more secure, privacy-preserving, and accessible for real-world applications.
Gene Tsudik is a Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), with a career spanning over two decades. He obtained his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Southern California (USC) in 1991, focusing on access control in the Internet. His research spans multiple areas including computer and network security, applied cryptography, and digital privacy, with a recent emphasis on database privacy, genomic privacy, and usable security. His notable contributions include the Inter-Domain Policy Routing (IDPR) protocol, KryptoKnight for network security, and Tree-Based Group Key Agreement protocols. He has over 210 publications and 8 patents. From 2002 to 2007, he served as Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies at UCI's School of Information and Computer Sciences and currently directs the UCI Secure Computing and Networking Center (SCONCE). Research Keywords : Cybersecurity, Cryptography, Privacy, Network Security, Digital Signatures, Genomic Data Protection. Scientific Awards : IEEE Fellow (2012), ACM Fellow (2014), AAAS Fellow (2016), Fulbright Senior Scholar (2007), and IFIP Fellow (2020). Professor Tsudik has supervised 18 PhD students and held visiting positions at universities across Europe and Asia. His recent publications focus on secure hardware attestation, biometric authentication, and social media data privacy.
