Valerio Mante is an Associate Professor at the Department of Neuroinformatics, part of the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering at ETH Zurich. His research focuses on integrating computational methods with neuroscience, particularly in neural data analysis, instrumentation, and measurement techniques. He is based at the Institute of Neuroinformatics in Zurich, Switzerland, and teaches courses such as Introduction to Neuroinformatics and Basics of Instrumentation, Measurement, and Analysis . His academic affiliation spans both ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich, as indicated by his involvement in joint courses. Current research interests include neuroinformatics, computational neuroscience, and machine learning applications in neural data analysis. Courses taught in Fall semester 2025 include colloquia and readings in neuroinformatics, emphasizing interdisciplinary methodologies.
Narly Golestani is Associate Professor at the Vienna Cognitive Science Hub and at the Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology at the Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna. She simultaneously holds an Associate Professor position at the University of Geneva's Department of Psychology, where she has been affiliated since April 2018. She heads the Brain and Language Lab, which operates across both institutions. Dr. Golestani earned her PhD in Clinical Psychology from McGill University (Montreal, Canada), followed by post-doctoral work at INSERM (Orsay, France) and the Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL (London, UK). Her research focuses on understanding the neural mechanisms underlying language processing across multiple levels, from auditory and phonetic processing to multilingualism and language control. Her methodological approach integrates: Functional and structural neuroimaging Computational modeling of brain function Computational morphometry Machine learning techniques Advanced statistical procedures Neuropsychological assessments Experimental psycholinguistics Psychophysics methods Dr. Golestani's primary research themes include: Auditory cortex anatomy and its relationships with auditory, language, and music processing Multilingualism and language control mechanisms in the brain Language aptitude and individual differences in language learning Computational modeling approaches for understanding language processing at different levels Her significant research initiatives include the Evolving Language NCCR-funded work package on 'Aptitude' and the 'ProsodyToMeaning' project. Her work contributes to Sustainable Development Goals related to quality education and reduced inequalities. Dr. Golestani has presented her research internationally at institutions including the Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, St Jude Research Hospital, and the University of Reading. Dr. Golestani teaches advanced seminars on Clinical Psychology, Speech and Language Pathology, Bilingualism, and The Neuroscience of Language at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Her teaching emphasizes the intersection of cognitive science, neuroscience, and language processing, with courses including 'Speech and Language Pathology,' 'Bilingualism: Neural bases and Socio-cognitive aspects,' and 'The Neuroscience of Language.'
Prof. Felicity Jones is an Associate Professor at the Groningen Institute of Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, specializing in the molecular basis of adaptation. Her research bridges genetics, developmental biology, and ecology using threespine sticklebacks as a model organism. PhD, University of Edinburgh (2005): Reproductive Isolation in Sticklebacks BSc, University of Queensland (1999): Biochemistry & Zoology, Honours Class I Research Interests focus on how heritable genetic variation drives adaptive evolution, combining environmental manipulation with single-cell multiomics to study gene regulation, chromatin accessibility, and epigenomics across marine and freshwater habitats. Her work addresses: Mechanisms of recombination in adaptive evolution Cis-regulatory changes in parallel trait divergence Demographic constraints on speciation Hybrid zone dynamics and fitness landscapes Article Trends highlight genome-wide recombination mapping, cis-regulatory evolution, and ancient DNA analysis to understand rapid adaptation. Key themes include marine-freshwater transitions, skeletal trait divergence, and sensory system evolution. Balfour Lecture 2016 : Recognizing contributions to evolutionary speciation Grants : ERC Consolidator (2014-2020), DFG Research Grant (2015-2019) Labs & Collaborations : Leads the Jones Lab, collaborating across Australia, the UK, US, and Germany. Utilizes hybrid zones in the Northern Hemisphere for real-world fitness studies.
Christian Fiebach is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Goethe University Frankfurt. He leads the Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, focusing on the neural mechanisms underlying higher cognitive functions such as language, working memory, cognitive flexibility, and intelligence. His work explores individual differences in neurocognition through advanced neuroimaging techniques. Research Interests: Language processing Working memory systems Cognitive flexibility and stability Intelligence and individual differences Neuroimaging of cognitive functions Methodology Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) Electroencephalography (EEG) Magnetoencephalography (MEG) Recent Research Trends include computational modeling of brain activation in reading, temporal dynamics of brain connectivity in cognitive performance, cross-modal alignment of eye movements with speech production, and neural variability in affective task switching. His publications emphasize interdisciplinary approaches combining cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and computational methods. Contact: Email: fiebach@psych.uni-frankfurt.de Address: Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Grüneburgplatz 1, PEG, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Germany Phone: +49 69-798-35334
Eleanor Bennett is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre of Excellence in Ancient Near Eastern Empires (ANEE) within the Department of Languages, Faculty of Arts at the University of Helsinki. Her research bridges traditional Assyriology with cutting-edge digital methodologies to explore gender, emotions, and embodiment in Neo-Assyrian texts. Dr. Bennett's research interests focus on Ancient Near Eastern Studies with particular emphasis on the Neo-Assyrian period. She employs digital humanities approaches including network analysis, word embeddings, and computational linguistics to investigate how emotions were embodied in ancient texts, gender constructions in royal contexts, and the political significance of terms like 'šarratu' (queen). Her work uniquely combines close textual reading with distant reading techniques to uncover patterns invisible through traditional philological methods alone. Her publications reveal a consistent trajectory toward increasingly sophisticated computational analyses of Neo-Assyrian texts. Beginning with studies of royal titulature and gendered power structures, her work has evolved to incorporate advanced network analysis of co-attestation patterns and machine learning approaches to emotional semantics. This progression demonstrates her commitment to pushing methodological boundaries in Assyriological research while maintaining rigorous philological foundations. ANEE Team 1 Publication Prize (2022) Dr. Bennett actively participates in multiple significant research projects including 'Embodied Emotions: Ancient Mesopotamia and Today' (2022-2025) and ANEE Team 1: Digital Humanities Approaches. She has presented her work at numerous international conferences including the Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale and ASOR Annual Meeting, and has contributed to collaborative projects examining gender methodology in Ancient Near Eastern studies. Her grant-funded research demonstrates her ability to secure competitive funding and collaborate effectively across disciplinary boundaries. As a member of the Centre of Excellence in Ancient Near Eastern Empires, Dr. Bennett works within a vibrant interdisciplinary team that includes scholars from history, archaeology, computer science, and cognitive science. She has co-organized workshops such as the Fifth Workshop on Gender, Methodology and the Ancient Near East and has taught in the Digital Applications in Assyriology Nordic Summer School, demonstrating her commitment to building scholarly communities and training the next generation of researchers in digital methods.
Payam Ghaffarvand Mokari is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Eastern Finland, School of Humanities, specifically within the Foreign Languages and Translation Studies unit. Holding a Ph.D. in General Linguistics, his research focuses on the intersection of phonetics, psycholinguistics, and second language acquisition with particular emphasis on Azerbaijani language phonology. Dr. Ghaffarvand Mokari's research interests span acoustic phonetics, second language speech processing, and psycholinguistics, with a specialization in vowel perception and production across languages. His work investigates how listeners process non-native speech, the role of individual differences in language learning, and the acoustic characteristics of various vowel systems, particularly Azerbaijani. His research methodology combines experimental phonetics, acoustic analysis, and cross-linguistic comparison to understand speech perception and production mechanisms. Analysis of his publication record from 2016-2024 reveals a consistent research trajectory focused on vowel perception across languages, with particular attention to Azerbaijani-English language pairs. His work demonstrates expertise in acoustic analysis techniques, experimental design for speech perception studies, and the application of computational methods to phonetic research. The publications show progression from descriptive phonetic work to more complex investigations of perceptual mechanisms and individual differences in language processing. Dr. Ghaffarvand Mokari has maintained active research collaborations, particularly with Stefan Werner, resulting in numerous co-authored publications in reputable linguistics journals. His research has been presented at international conferences including the International Congress of Phonetic Sciences and the Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching Conference.
Bernard P. Veldkamp is a Full Professor at the University of Twente, affiliated with the TechMed Centre, Digital Society Institute, and Cognition, Data and Education. His work spans Artificial Intelligence, Data Mining, Text Mining, and Human AI Interaction, with applications in Health and Well-being, Education, and Societal Context of AI. Key research areas: Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Psychometric Models, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) His recent publications focus on energy transition, PTSD detection, reading fluency assessment, and fraud reporting. He has secured grants like the CZ Research Grant (2009) and ECABO Grant (2013). Scientific Awards : Best Paper Presentation Award (2012) CZ Research Grant (2009) ECABO Grant (2013) His collaborative activities include oral presentations on therapy analysis, formative assessment, and text classification, reflecting interdisciplinary engagement with psychology, education, and computational methods.
Vince Grolmusz is a Professor of Mathematics at the Institute of Mathematics, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary. His academic work spans interdisciplinary research in bioinformatics, metagenomics, and brain informatics. Research Interests: Bioinformatics, Metagenomics, Brain Graphs, Algorithmic Complexity. Teaching: Computer Science, Complexity Theory, Bioinformatics, Discrete Mathematics. His publications focus on computational biology, neuroimaging, and algorithmic modeling, leveraging tools like the Budapest Reference Connectome Server and metagenomic analysis platforms. Recent works include studies on amyloid prediction, RAS mutant drug targeting, and human brain network motifs.
Murray Patterson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Georgia State University. His academic journey includes a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia (2012), followed by postdoctoral research at Inria (France), CWI (Netherlands), Lyon's Evolutionary Biology Lab, and Milan's Experimental Algorithmics Lab. He previously held a visiting position at Fairfield University before joining Georgia State in 2020. Education: B.C.S., Acadia University, 2003 M.S., Computing Science, Simon Fraser University, 2006 Ph.D., Computer Science, University of British Columbia, 2012 Research Interests: Focuses on algorithmic approaches to bioinformatics challenges, particularly evolutionary biology and cancer genomics. Key areas include: - Evolutionary tree construction and dynamics analysis - Haplotype assembly and cancer cell progression modeling - Machine learning for molecular sequence classification - Privacy-preserving federated learning methods - Interdisciplinary applications of computational geometry and kernel methods. Research Trends: Recent work emphasizes scalable tools for analyzing long-read sequencing data, developing novel embeddings for biological sequences (e.g., Hist2Vec, Spike2Vec), and integrating geometric approaches (Bezier curves, Poincaré distances) into bioinformatics workflows. The 2025 publications highlight advancements in privacy-enhanced federated learning frameworks and kernel-based sequence analysis techniques. Awards & Grants: No explicitly listed awards. His work has been supported by grants for tumor phylogeny pipelines and pandemic response initiatives. Labs & Collaborations: Active in the Experimental Algorithmics Lab (algolab.eu) and affiliated with Georgia State's bioinformatics research community. Develops open-source tools like Plastic for tumor phylogeny benchmarking and PDB2Vec for 3D protein structure analysis.
Sidney D'Mello is a Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder's Institute of Cognitive Science and Department of Computer Science. Previously, he held roles as an Associate Professor at the University of Notre Dame and a visiting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on the interplay between cognition and emotion in complex tasks, developing AI systems to enhance learning and collaboration. He directs the NSF-funded Institute for Student-Agent Teaming (iSAT) and the Hybrid Human-Agent Tutoring (HAT) Platform project. Education: PhD in Computer Science (2009), University of Memphis M.S. in Mathematical Sciences (2004), University of Memphis B.S. in Electrical Engineering (2002), Christian Brothers University Research Interests: Multimodal interaction, affective computing, AI in education, collaborative learning, and human-agent teaming. His work integrates eye tracking, speech analysis, and machine learning to design intelligent systems. Recent Achievements: Recipient of the 2018 Young Investigator Award (Society for Text & Discourse) Lead PI on multiple NSF grants, including the $20M iSAT Institute Editorial roles at Discourse Processes , International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education , and others Grants & Projects: Includes NSF AI Institute funding, NIH studies on chronic pain, and partnerships with Saga Education for scalable math tutoring. His lab (iSAT) collaborates with ~70 researchers and students nationwide. Labs/Teams: Directs the iSAT Institute, focuses on AI-enhanced learning environments and human-agent collaboration. Active in developing tools like CPSCoach for collaborative problem-solving feedback.
Ryan Layer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Colorado, affiliated with both the BioFrontiers Institute and the Division of Biomedical Informatics and Personalized Medicine at CU Anschutz Medical Campus. His work bridges computational methods with genomic data analysis to address biological and medical challenges. PhD in Computer Science from University of Virginia Postdoctoral work at University of Utah Human Genetics Department Developed critical tools: LUMPY for structural variation detection, GQT for genotype queries, GIGGLE as genomic search engine Dr. Layer's research focuses on creating scalable algorithms for genomic dataset interpretation, particularly structural variation analysis. His lab designs tools like STIX for population-scale variant classification and samplot for visualization. He aims to unify GQT and GIGGLE into a comprehensive platform for large-scale genomic analysis. His software contributions include: BITS : Scalable interval intersection counting LUMPY : Structural variant discovery framework GIGGLE : Genomic interval search engine STIX : Structural variant indexing system svtools : Population-scale SV analysis SV-plaudit : Cloud curation framework Dr. Layer's team actively recruits postdoctoral researchers and develops solutions for: Genomic interval indexing Genotype-phenotype correlation Biomedical informatics Human disease mutation identification Large-scale data analysis Cancer genomics
Katelyn Sileo is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at San Diego State University (SDSU), holding a part-time faculty position focused on computational genomics and microbiome research. Her primary research interests include: Phage Genomics Microbiome Analysis Bioinformatics Computational Biology Epidemiology She develops computational tools for genome annotation and analysis, with emphasis on bacteriophage-host interactions and viral evolution. Her recent publications demonstrate expertise in predicting ribosomal frameshifts, analyzing crAssphage diversity, and investigating gut microbiome dynamics in Alzheimer's disease models, reflecting a strong focus on methodological innovation in phage genomics and translational microbiome applications.
Dr. Sandra Laing Gillam is a Professor in the Department of Communication Disorders & Deaf Education at Utah State University, affiliated with the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education. She holds a PhD in Communication Disorders from the University of Memphis (1999) and has been licensed as a Speech-Language Pathologist in Utah since 2022. Her research focuses on narrative discourse intervention, language disorders in children, bilingual education, and clinical decision-making in speech-language pathology. She has authored over 50 journal articles, 24 book chapters, and contributed to influential textbooks like *Making Meaning and Growing Knowledge* (2016) and *Communication Sciences and Disorders: From Science to Clinical Practice* (2024). Key awards include the ASHA Fellow distinction (2013), multiple Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year awards (2024, 2023, 2010), and the 2002 New Investigator Research Award. Her work emphasizes evidence-based interventions, particularly for children with developmental language disorders and at-risk populations. Dr. Gillam has mentored over 20 graduate students and teaches courses such as *Language Assessment and Intervention for School-Age Children* and *Phonological Assessments and Intervention*. She also leads collaborative projects on narrative analysis tools like the MISL (Monitoring Indicators of Scholarly Language) and contributes to professional development initiatives in clinical practice.
Dr. Charlie Klauer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), affiliated with the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI). His research focuses on human factors engineering, driver distraction, novice teen driving behavior, and driver fatigue. Klauer holds a Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech (2005), an M.S. in Human Factors Psychology from Wright State University (1995), and a B.A. in Psychology from Minnesota State University Moorhead (1992). His professional history includes over two decades at VTTI, where he leads the Teen Risk and Injury Prevention Group within the Center for Vulnerable Road User Safety. Prior roles include Research Scientist at Batelle Human Factors Transportation Center (1996–1999) and Human Factors Engineer at Symvionics, Inc. (1994–1996). Klauer’s research emphasizes naturalistic driving studies to assess risk factors such as secondary task engagement, driver fatigue, and age-related differences in crash risk. His work has contributed to high-impact publications, including a landmark 2014 study in the New England Journal of Medicine on driver distraction risks among novice and experienced drivers. His articles frequently explore interventions to improve teen driver safety, automated vehicle training, and the design of safety-critical systems. Key Awards: Top 15 Most Read Article (NEJM, 2014), 58th Most Talked About Study (Altmetric, 2014), Best Article Award (HFES, 2012) Professional Affiliations: Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Transportation Research Board committees, and advisory boards for teen driver safety initiatives. His research groups collaborate on projects analyzing real-world driving behavior, with a focus on vulnerable populations like teen drivers and elderly drivers. Klauer’s work bridges engineering, psychology, and policy to advance transportation safety through evidence-based interventions.
Dr. Sarah Bull is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at Toronto Metropolitan University. She holds a B.A. from the University of Winnipeg, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Simon Fraser University. Her research focuses on 19th-century print culture, medical publishing, and the intersection of law, literature, and medicine. Supported by a Wellcome Research Fellowship, she has explored Victorian medical publications on sexual health and is completing a book titled *The Business of Sexual Knowledge*. Her current project examines 19th-century 'book-making' practices in textual production. Education: B.A. (Winnipeg), M.A./Ph.D. (Simon Fraser) Her research interests span media archaeology, censorship studies, and the history of medicine, with publications in *Book History*, *Bulletin of the History of Medicine*, and *Victorian Review*. She actively bridges historical analysis with modern critical frameworks, addressing intellectual property and reproductive rights through textual analysis. Leveraging interdisciplinary approaches, Dr. Bull’s work interrogates how medical knowledge was disseminated and contested in Victorian Britain. Her scholarship underscores the materiality of books and their role in shaping public discourse on contentious topics like sexuality and health.
