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Maja J Matarić is the Chan Soon-Shiong Chaired and Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering, with courtesy appointments in Neuroscience and Pediatrics. She serves as founding director of the USC Robotics and Autonomous Systems Center, co-director of the USC Robotics Research Lab, and Principal Scientist at Google DeepMind. Previously, she held leadership roles as USC's interim Vice President of Research (2020-2021) and Vice Dean for Research (2006-2019). Her educational background includes: PhD in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence from MIT (1994) MS in Computer Science from MIT (1990) BS in Computer Science from University of Kansas (1987) Matarić pioneers Socially Assistive Robotics (SAR) , a field her lab named, focusing on human-robot interaction that provides assistance through social rather than physical support. Her research targets critical health and wellness challenges including post-stroke rehabilitation, autism spectrum disorder therapy, cognitive exercises for Alzheimer's patients, ADHD academic support, and mental health interventions. She develops systems modeling user engagement, personality, and motivation, with extensive real-world deployments in schools, rehabilitation centers, and homes. Analysis of her recent publications reveals dominant themes in cognitive health robotics (2025 CHI paper on LLM-powered elder care), pediatric assistive technology (2025 IDC speech therapy review), and adaptive preference modeling (2025 HRI contrastive learning work). Her research consistently bridges machine learning with human-centered design for vulnerable populations. Major scientific recognition includes: ACM Athena Lecturer Award (2024) ACM Eugene L. Lawler Humanitarian Award (2024) ACM Fellow (2020) Presidential Mentoring Award (2011) Multiple society fellowships (AAAS, IEEE, AAAI) As a dedicated mentor, Matarić has championed underrepresented groups through CRA-W, placing numerous women in faculty positions. She leads USC Viterbi's K-12 STEM Outreach Program serving low-income Los Angeles schools and authored The Robotics Prime for student education. Her research has secured significant funding enabling real-world technology transfer, with documented impact in rehabilitation centers and homes through deployable SAR systems. Her Robotics Research Lab at USC drives innovation in embodied AI, with current projects spanning LLM-integrated elder care robots, ADHD academic companions, and autism therapy systems. The lab emphasizes co-design with end-users and rigorous real-world validation across diverse populations.

• Socially Assistive Robotics
• Human-Robot Interaction
• Assistive Technology
• +7 more

Professor Jamie Peck is a University Killam Professor and Professor of Geography at the University of British Columbia, Faculty of Arts, Department of Geography. He holds the prestigious title of Distinguished University Scholar at UBC and maintains significant international academic affiliations including Visiting Professor at Oxford University's School of Geography and the Environment, Honorary Professorial Fellow at the University of Manchester, and Honorary Professor at the University of Nottingham. Peck received his PhD in Geography from the University of Manchester in 1988 following his BA (Hons) in Geography from the same institution. His distinguished academic career spans positions at the University of Manchester (1989-2000), University of Wisconsin-Madison (2000-2008), and his current position at UBC where he has been a central figure in economic geography and interdisciplinary social science. As an institutional political economist, Professor Peck's research critically examines the spatial dimensions of economic processes, with particular attention to how global phenomena like neoliberalization are constituted through local practices. His work bridges economic geography, urban studies, political economy, and social theory, consistently challenging conventional understandings of market processes and statecraft. Recent research focuses on Chinese state capitalism, especially the Greater Bay Area and Hong Kong's evolving political status, alongside methodological innovations in conjunctural analysis as demonstrated in his 2023 book Variegated Economies . His scholarly output reveals a sustained engagement with the variegated nature of capitalist development across different spatial contexts. Recent publications demonstrate a sophisticated methodological approach combining institutional analysis with extended case methods, emphasizing historical context and spatial specificity while challenging universalizing theoretical claims. His work on Chinese political economy represents a significant departure from conventional Western-centric analyses. University Killam Professor (2025) Lauréat Prix International de Géographie Vautrin Lud ("Nobel de Géographie") (2023) Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada Clarivate Highly Cited, Social Sciences (2014-2024) Distinguished University Scholar, UBC (2017-present) Canada Research Chair in Urban & Regional Political Economy (2008-2022) Professor Peck has supervised numerous doctoral students whose dissertations examine diverse topics including global urban solutions industries, US-Mexico border economies, Rio de Janeiro's 'PACification' processes, and China's experimental economic zones. His supervision approach emphasizes theoretically sophisticated empirical work that connects local case studies to broader political economic processes. His Canada Research Chair position supported extensive research on urban and regional political economy, while his current Killam Professorship funds ongoing work on Chinese political economy and conjunctural analysis methodologies. While not formally affiliated with a specific laboratory, Professor Peck is deeply engaged with multiple scholarly networks through his editorial leadership as Managing Editor of EPA: Economy & Space and co-editor of the Economic Transformations book series. His role as Convenor of the Summer Institute in Economic Geography demonstrates his commitment to fostering scholarly exchange and theoretical development in economic geography as a discipline.

• Economic Geography
• Urban Restructuring
• Political Economy
• +7 more

Aishwarya Agrawal is an Assistant Professor at Université de Montréal in the Department of Computer Science and Operations Research (DIRO), affiliated with Mila – Quebec Institute of Artificial Intelligence and a Canada CIFAR AI Chair. She also serves as a research scientist at Google DeepMind, spending one day weekly there. Education: B.E. in Electrical Engineering (IIT Gandhinagar, 2014), Ph.D. in Computer Science (Georgia Tech, 2019). Her research focuses on multimodal learning , deep learning , natural language processing , and computer vision , particularly in developing AI systems that 'see' and 'communicate' effectively. Grants & Awards: Canada CIFAR AI Chair, 2020 Sigma Xi Best PhD Thesis Award, NVIDIA Fellowship (2018–2019), and multiple fellowships from Google and Facebook. She leads projects like Advancing Multimodal Vision-Language Learning (CRSNG-funded) and StarDoc: Document Structure Extraction (MITACS). Research Contributions: Pioneered benchmarks like CulturalVQA and UI-Vision , and frameworks such as PROGRESS for efficient VLM training. Her work emphasizes cross-modal alignment, robust evaluation, and cultural understanding in AI systems. Labs/Teams: Active in Mila’s core academic group and collaborates with Google DeepMind on multimodal and vision-language research. Supervises a dynamic team of PhD and master’s students in Montreal.

• Multimodal learning
• Deep learning
• Natural language processing
• +3 more

Aya Aboelenien is an Associate Professor in the Department of Marketing at HEC Montréal, a leading business school in Montréal, Canada. Her research focuses on morality and ethics in consumption, consumer culture theory, qualitative methods, aesthetics, and social media. She holds a Ph.D. (Marketing) from Concordia University, an M.B.A. and BBA from the American University in Cairo. Research Interests Aya’s work examines ethical consumption trends, influencer dynamics, and marketplace morality. She explores how brands navigate ethical dilemmas and how social media influencers shape consumer behavior. Her recent studies include analyses of cancel culture’s impact on brands, the ethical dimensions of influencer marketing, and meat consumption’s cultural symbolism. Recent Contributions Her 2024 papers in Journal of Brand Management and Journal of Business Research address brand response strategies to changing market logics and the formation of marketplace moral sentiments. Earlier work in Journal of Marketing Management (2023) and Consumption Markets & Culture (2022) further highlight her focus on ethical influencers and contested consumption practices. Awards & Supervision She received the Best Competitive Paper Award at the 2025 Consumer Culture Theory Conference. Since 2021, she has supervised five MSc projects on topics like green marketing, influencer strategies, and brand repositioning. She teaches courses in consultancy-based marketing research and strategic marketing. Affiliations Aya is affiliated with HEC Montréal’s marketing department and collaborates with global scholars on projects involving consumer ethics and digital marketing innovations.

• Morality and Ethics in Consumption
• Consumer Culture Theory
• Qualitative Research Methods
• +3 more

Claire Battershill is an Assistant Professor jointly appointed in the Faculty of Information and the Department of English at the University of Toronto. She holds a PhD from the University of Toronto and a BA (Hons) from the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on the history and future of the book, with a particular emphasis on feminist experimental publishing, literary aesthetics, and 20th/21st-century publishing practices. She is Co-Director of the Modernist Archives Publishing Project (MAPP), a critical digital archive of early 20th-century publishers’ records, and Co-Creator of the SSHRC-funded 'Make Believe' research-creation project. Her publications include Women and Letterpress Printing: Gendered Impressions (2022) and Using Digital Humanities in the Classroom (2022). Dr. Battershill has held prestigious roles such as Wendy M. Cecil Professor in VicOne at Victoria College and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. She has secured grants including the SSHRC Impact Award (2017) and funding from the Canada Council for the Arts. Her teaching spans courses like INF2228H (The Future of Things: Digitization and Remediation) and BKS1002H (Book History in Practice), blending theory with hands-on engagement in digital humanities and book studies. Her research interests span digital humanities pedagogy, collaborative publishing projects, and the intersection of feminist theory with material book culture. She actively contributes to interdisciplinary initiatives like the Critical Digital Humanities Initiative (CDHI) at the University of Toronto.

• Book and Publishing History
• Creative Writing
• 20th-Century Literature
• +4 more

Tina Dacin is a Professor of Strategy and Organizational Behavior at the Smith School of Business, Queen's University, Canada. She holds the Stephen J.R. Smith Chair and serves as Director of the Community Impact Research Program. Her roles include former Director of the Smith School’s Centre for Social Impact, former University Senate member, and former Chair of the Principal’s Innovation Fund Committee. She co-founded the Community of Social Innovation Chair and holds affiliations with the Academy of Management and Informs. Education: Ph.D. (1993) in Business Administration from the University of Toronto and M.A. in Psychology from the University of New Brunswick. Research focuses on cultural heritage, social innovation/entrepreneurship, strategic alliances, and globalization. Key themes include custodianship, tradition preservation, place-making, and institutional dynamics. Recent work explores craft-based ventures, place-sensitive organizational practices, and institutional renewal in crises like the Detroit water wars. Awards: None explicitly listed, though her chair position reflects academic distinction. Teaching includes courses on global social impact and analytics/ethics policy. Labs/Teams: Leadership in the Community Impact Research Program and the Scotiabank Centre for Customer Analytics.

• Cultural Studies
• Globalization and Culture
• Entrepreneurship
• +3 more

Sarah Turnbull is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo, affiliated with the Balsillie School for International Affairs. Her work intersects criminology, sociolegal studies, and critical border/migration studies, focusing on immigration detention, deportation, punishment, and social justice through postcolonial, antiracist, and feminist lenses. Education: PhD and MA in Criminology and Socio-Legal Studies from the University of Toronto; BA from Simon Fraser University. Her current research includes: (1) a SSHRC-funded study on the National Immigration Detention Framework in Canada using Foucauldian genealogical methods; (2) the Prison Transparency Project , a comparative analysis of carceral transparency in Canada, Spain, and Argentina; and (3) a transatlantic study on pandemic impacts in prisons. She employs ethnographic and qualitative methods in her research. Selected Grants: 2023–2030: Co-Investigator, Prison Transparency Project (SSHRC Partnership Grant). 2022–2025: Principal Investigator, Reforming Detention (SSHRC Insight Grant). 2022–2023: Co-Principal Investigator, COVID-19 Justice as Penal Justice (Strathclyde-Waterloo Transatlantic Award). Turnbull’s publications and collaborations emphasize systemic inequalities, carceral mobilities, and ethical research practices. She co-founded the Prison Transparency Project and has contributed to dialogues on art as resistance in detention settings.

• Border criminology
• Immigration detention and deportation
• Punishment and incarceration
• +4 more

Lisa Stevenson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at McGill University. She holds a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley (2005). Her research focuses on imagistic forms of thought in contexts of violence, particularly among Inuit communities in the Canadian Arctic and Colombian refugees in Ecuador. She is the author of *Life Beside Itself: Imagining Care in the Canadian Arctic* (2014), which won the 2015 Victor Turner Book Prize and the 2020 Staley Prize. Stevenson’s work integrates experimental ethnographic methods, including filmmaking. Her films, such as *Into Unknown Parts* (2017) and *Era Un Lunes* (2018), explore the human impact of displacement and violence. She collaborates with researchers like Eduardo Kohn, blending anthropology with visual storytelling. Her recent projects include a Mellon New Directions Fellowship to study filmmaking, aiming to deepen her exploration of lived experiences of violence. She has also contributed to peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes on topics ranging from care ethics to the anthropology of sound and imagery. Awards: Victor Turner Book Prize (2015), Staley Prize (2020) Grants: Mellon New Directions Fellowship Collaborations: Eduardo Kohn (film projects), Cristiana Giordano (theatre experiments) Stevenson’s research bridges anthropology, film, and visual arts, emphasizing innovative ways to represent marginalized voices and experiences.

• Visual Anthropology
• Ethnography
• Indigenous Studies
• +3 more

Malini Guha is an Associate Professor of Film Studies at Carleton University , cross-appointed to the Institute for Studies in Art and Culture and affiliated with Migration and Diaspora Studies . She holds the Ruth and Mark Phillips Professorship (2025-2027), focusing on geographical thinking across disciplines. Education: B.A. (University of Toronto), M.A. (York University), PhD (University of Warwick) Research Interests : Guha's work spans cinema and the city , diasporic/postcolonial cinema , public projection art , and ciné-geography . Recent projects include SSHRC-funded research on traction, flight, and becoming in moving images. Selected Publications : Author of From Empire to the World: Migrant London and Paris in the Cinema (2015) and co-editor of London as Screen Gateway (2023). Her articles appear in Feminist Media Histories , Routledge Companion to Media and the City , and Canadian Journal of Film Studies . Scientific Awards : Ruth and Mark Phillips Professorship (2025-2027) FASS Mid-Career Research Grant (2021) SSHRC Insight Development Grant (2023-2025) Collaborative Work : Co-organized Carleton’s Racialized and Indigenous Faculty Alliance (2022-2024), co-taught interdisciplinary course on Race and Representation in the Arts (2023), and collaborates with artist Neven Lochhead on projects like Something Happened (2024).

• Migration Studies
• Cinema and Media Studies
• World Cinema
• +5 more

Dr. Hyunjung Shin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum Studies at the University of Saskatchewan's College of Education. Her work focuses on applied linguistics, EAL education, and critical pedagogy. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto (2010) in Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, with a specialization in Second Language Education. Her research explores topics such as transnational student experiences, neoliberalism in education, refugee language policies, and identity formation. Notable awards include the Government of Canada Post-doctoral Research Fellowship (2010-2011) and the BAAL International Scholarship (2010). Shin's publications challenge dominant narratives in language education, emphasizing critical perspectives on multilingualism and globalization. She has presented widely, including a TEDx talk on diversity in 2019. Her work integrates participatory action research and ethnographic methods to address systemic inequities.

• English as an Additional Language (EAL)
• ESL/EFL
• applied linguistics
• +15 more

Tania Islas Weinstein is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at McGill University’s Department of Political Science. Her work bridges art, politics, and aesthetics, particularly in the context of Mexico’s democratic transitions and socio-cultural dynamics. She holds a PhD from the University of Chicago and has held academic appointments at institutions including the University of Colorado Denver and the University of Chicago. Education: PhD in Political Science, University of Chicago (2019) MA in Political Science, University of Chicago (2011) BA in Political Science and International Relations, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE), Mexico (2007) Research focuses on how art shapes political imaginaries, with a current book project analyzing Mexico’s cultural policies post-autocratic rule. Key themes include nationalism, racial justice, and the intersection of art with state violence. She co-edited Beyond Mestizaje: Contemporary Debates on Race in Mexico (2024) and has published in Journal of Latin American Studies and Signs . Awards include a FQRSC Team Grant for governance research in Latin America and fellowships from the University of Chicago and CONACyT. She actively collaborates with artists, such as on Sun Ra’s poetry translation, and teaches courses on art politics, qualitative methods, and anti-racism in Latin America.

• Art
• Aesthetics
• Democratic Theory
• +7 more

Rumee Ahmed is a Professor of Islamic Law in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Arts, where he also holds the Canada Research Chair in Theology and Ethics. He earned his PhD from the Institute for the Study of Institutional Studies at Bovine University and specializes in Islamic law, theology, ethics, and philosophy. His research explores: Islamic legal theory and theology through emic approaches Ethical frameworks in Quranic exegesis and interfaith dialogue Intersections of law, gender, and human rights in Muslim societies Ahmed's publications predominantly focus on Islamic jurisprudence, theological ethics, and scriptural hermeneutics, with recurring themes of justice, interreligious engagement, and the evolution of Islamic legal thought. His work frequently employs comparative analysis across historical and contemporary contexts. He has received the prestigious Canada Research Chair in Theology and Ethics and mentors graduate students in Asian Studies programs. Ahmed actively collaborates on interdisciplinary projects and seeks research partnerships.

• Islamic Law
• Theology
• Ethics
• +3 more

Bruce Rusk is an Associate Professor in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia (Faculty of Arts) and serves as the Graduate Advisor. He previously taught at Cornell University for six years before joining UBC in 2012. During the 2012–13 academic year, he was on leave at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and the National Humanities Center in North Carolina. Additionally, he is the webmaster and past president of the Society for Ming Studies, a scholarly organization focused on Ming history and culture. Bruce holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where his dissertation, The Rogue Classicist: Feng Fang (1493–1566) and his Forgeries , examined sixteenth-century classical text forgeries. Following his Ph.D., he was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University from 2004 to 2006. He also earned his B.A. (History Honours) from UBC, which inspired his return to Vancouver to join the scholarly community here. His research focuses on the cultural history of pre-modern and early modern China, particularly the Ming and Qing dynasties. Key interests include authenticity and forgery in textual and material culture, transmission of knowledge, history of philology, writing systems in East Asia, and digital humanities. He collaborates globally on the SSHRC-funded FROGBEAR project, developing an open access repository for East Asian religious studies. Current work explores authentication practices surrounding artifacts like Xuande incense burners and silver ingots, reflecting his broader study of how authenticity and deception were negotiated in late imperial China. Recent publications address intersections between forgery, material culture, and digital methodologies, including co-editing Literary Information in China: A History (2021) and analyzing Ming-Qing literary practices. His work highlights the cultural significance of textual preservation and the sociocultural dynamics of early modern Chinese scholarship. As a leader in academic organizations, Bruce has contributed to the Society for Ming Studies, advancing research in Ming culture through his roles as webmaster and past president. His advising and grants include mentoring UBC graduate students and contributing to the FROGBEAR initiative. His career bridges historical research with digital innovation, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to Asian studies.

• Chinese Cultural History
• Material Culture
• Textual Studies
• +5 more

Dr. Shanna Williams is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology at McGill University's Faculty of Education. She holds clinical licensure in Quebec and Ontario, with expertise in forensic child psychology and maltreatment-related research. Her work focuses on child lie-telling, commercial sexual exploitation, moral development, and eyewitness testimony. Prior roles include a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law and forensic law enforcement collaboration in Los Angeles. Education: Ph.D., McGill University: School/Applied Child Psychology M.A., McGill University: Educational Psychology B.A., McGill University: Psychology Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow, University of Southern California Research Interests: Lie-Telling Dynamics: Investigating how cognitive and social factors influence children's deception across contexts. Child Maltreatment: Developing trauma-informed forensic interview protocols and assessing maltreatment impacts on memory and disclosure. Legal Systems: Enhancing child-witness support through improved questioning techniques and cross-cultural legal practices. Publications Trends: Her recent work emphasizes pandemic-era challenges in child protection, digital exploitation, and legal system adaptations. Over 20 peer-reviewed articles address topics like forensic interviewing methods, maltreatment detection, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Awards: SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship (2016-2017) SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS Doctoral Fellowship (2010-2013) Advising & Grants: Supervises graduate students in child psychology and maltreatment studies. Research funded by SSHRC, NSF, and NIH grants focusing on forensic child development. Labs/Teams: Child Interviewing & Witness Lab Canadian Child Interviewing Research Team

• Lie-Telling
• Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children
• Moral Development
• +4 more

Jennifer Lavoie is an Associate Professor at Wilfrid Laurier University's Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, affiliated with the Department of Psychology and Criminology. She specializes in mental health crisis response, policing strategies, de-escalation techniques, and scenario-based training. Wilfrid Laurier University: Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, Psychology and Criminology Departments Research Interests : Her work focuses on integrating virtual reality and scenario-based training to improve police de-escalation skills. She examines violence risk assessment , correctional systems , and housing first programs for homeless individuals with mental illness. Recent studies address big data governance , cyberstalking victimization , and community-driven policing approaches . Publication Trends : Her research spans mental health policy , police training efficacy , and technological integration in crisis management . She explores virtual reality applications and community co-designed interventions , alongside longitudinal studies on stress and coping mechanisms in correctional and psychiatric settings. Scientific Awards : No scientific awards listed in available data. Advising : Actively supervises students in psychology and criminology, with unlisted advisees. Her work bridges academic research and practical policing applications .

• Mental Health
• Policing
• De-escalation Training
• +9 more