Karin Allor Pfeiffer is a Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at Michigan State University (MSU) and Director of the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports. She holds additional membership in the Center for Physical Activity and Health. With a Ph.D. from MSU, her research focuses on physical activity measurement methodologies and population health interventions, particularly among children and adolescents. Her work addresses obesity prevention, environmental design impacts on activity levels, and sociocultural factors influencing youth sport participation. Education: Ph.D. in Kinesiology from Michigan State University Her research interests emphasize: - Quantitative methods for physical activity assessment - Schoolyard redesign strategies and their health impacts - Cardiometabolic risk factors in pediatric populations - Longitudinal tracking of physical fitness and health outcomes Recent work explores accelerometer fragmentation metrics, GPS-linked activity tracking, and disparities in sedentary behavior across demographic groups. She has pioneered interdisciplinary approaches integrating spatial analysis, wearable technology, and policy evaluation. Key contributions include developing the Observational System for Recording Physical Activity in Children and advancing consensus methods for accelerometer data interpretation. Her studies frequently highlight socioeconomic and environmental determinants of health behaviors. Dr. Pfeiffer collaborates with public health agencies and urban planners to translate research into actionable policies. Her lab focuses on scalable interventions for underserved communities, leveraging community-engaged methods to address greenspace accessibility and safety concerns.
John M. Woodley is a distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), where he leads research at the PROSYS - Process and Systems Engineering Centre and contributes to the DTU Microbes Initiative. With over 30 years of experience, he has established himself as a leading expert in biocatalysis and bioprocess engineering, with research spanning both theoretical and experimental work across multiple scales. His primary research interests focus on the interface of bioprocess engineering, process chemistry, and reaction engineering. Dr. Woodley's work encompasses multi-step biocatalysis (including systems biocatalysis and flow chemistry), downstream processing from biocatalytic reactors and fermentations (including ISPR), modeling tools for bioprocess assessment (thermodynamics, kinetics, process simulation, economic evaluation), and bio-oxidations (including oxygen supply methods). His enzymatic investigations particularly target alcohol oxidases, carbohydrate oxidases, cytochrome P450s, Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenases, and transaminases. His research portfolio demonstrates consistent innovation in sustainable chemical production, with particular emphasis on enzymatic synthesis of pharmaceuticals and chemicals from renewable resources. Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong focus on overcoming industrial implementation challenges, particularly regarding enzyme stability in various reactor environments, optimization of multi-enzyme systems, and scale-up methodologies for biocatalytic processes. Dr. Woodley actively supervises multiple PhD students and leads several significant research projects, including 'P450-based biocatalytic processes for the pharmaceutical industry' (2025-2028), 'Integrated model for up- and downstream bioprocess intensification' (2024-2027), and 'ENFACE: A tool for prediction of enzyme stability at gas-liquid interfaces' (2024-2027). His work has resulted in an impressive publication record of 781 research outputs across various formats, including journal articles, book chapters, and conference proceedings. His research group operates within the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at DTU, utilizing advanced facilities for biocatalysis research, including specialized reactor systems for studying gas-liquid interfaces, computational modeling resources, and laboratories for enzyme characterization and bioprocess development. Through his leadership in the PROSYS center, he contributes to DTU's strategic focus on sustainable process technologies and systems engineering.
Benedict King is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, where he contributes to the Comparative Oceanic Linguistics (CoOL) team. His research focuses on constructing phylogenetic trees of language relationships using Bayesian methods to explore language origins, spread, and evolutionary dynamics. He holds a BA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge (UK), a PhD in Evolutionary Biology from Flinders University (Australia), and previously worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Naturalis Biodiversity Center (Netherlands). King’s research interests bridge evolutionary biology, paleontology, and linguistics. He investigates evolutionary transitions in early vertebrates (e.g., placoderms, coelacanths) and applies computational models to study language evolution. His work emphasizes improving phylogenetic methodologies and integrating fossil evidence with statistical frameworks. Notable projects include analyzing Philippine language migrations and reconfiguring actinistian phylogenies through Devonian fish fossils. His publications reflect interdisciplinary strengths, combining vertebrate paleontology with linguistic phylogenetics. Recent work supports rapid Austronesian expansions and hybrid Indo-European language origins. Awards include the Oxford University Press Prize for Biosciences and recognition for his PhD publication. King actively engages in public science communication through platforms like The Conversation and GitHub repositories.
Prof. Bernt Schiele is a Max Planck Director at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics and holds a Professorship at Saarland University. His research focuses on understanding multimodal sensor data, with key areas in computer vision, 3D object recognition, and machine learning. He leads the Computer Vision and Machine Learning group, addressing challenges in sensor fusion, scene understanding, and human activity recognition. Schiele has held academic roles at TU Darmstadt, ETH Zurich, and MIT, and contributes to top journals like IEEE Transactions on PAMI and conferences like ECCV. His work emphasizes robust models, interpretability, and domain adaptation for real-world applications. Education: PhD (1997, Grenoble), MSc (1994 Karlsruhe/1993 Grenoble) Key Positions: MIT (1997-2000), ETH Zurich (1999-2004), TU Darmstadt (2004-2010) Research interests span 3D scene understanding, multimodal sensor processing, and machine learning techniques for large-scale data. His recent work advances robust object detection, explainable AI, and domain-invariant training methods. He also chairs major conferences like ECCV 2018 and co-chairs ICCV 2011. Publications highlight innovations in interpretable vision transformers, certified explanations, and test-time adaptation. Despite no listed awards, his contributions shape foundational areas of computer vision and multimodal AI.
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.
Dr. Rajesh Bera is a Research Fellow at ICFO's Functional Optoelectronic Nanomaterials group specializing in quantum-confined nanostructures. His research examines ultrafast carrier dynamics, excitonic properties, and optoelectronic applications of nanomaterials including quantum dots, nanoplatelets, and hybrid nanostructures. Current investigations focus on intraband transitions in doped nanocrystals, orientation-dependent excitonic behavior in 2D materials, and charge transfer mechanisms in heterostructure devices. Work bridges fundamental photophysics with applications in photodetection, sensing, and energy conversion. Recent publications demonstrate expertise in time-resolved spectroscopy of quantum materials, nanomaterial synthesis via colloidal chemistry, and rational design of optoelectronic devices. Continually develops novel characterization methods to probe ultrafast processes at nanoscale interfaces.
Dr. Yawei Zhao is a Lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Manchester. She specializes in digital technologies, urbanization, and lifestyle migration. Her research explores data centers, PropTech, and the intersection of lifestyle migration with small city urbanization. Funded by the British Academy, IJURR Foundation, and Mitacs Canada, her work appears in journals like Urban Geography and Housing Studies . Prior to Manchester, she was a sessional instructor at the University of Calgary, where she earned her PhD in Geography. She holds degrees from McGill University, City University of Hong Kong, and National University of Singapore. Her research interests include urban governance, ecological civilization, and China's urban dynamics. Notable projects examine the Belt and Road Initiative's AI governance platforms and the impact of virtual tourism on cultural heritage sites. She co-leads PhD supervision on topics such as internal migration in China and animal rights in urban governance. Dr. Zhao actively contributes to interdisciplinary platforms like Digital Futures, Manchester China Institute, and Manchester Urban Institute. She organized the 2022–2023 conference ‘Making Rent: Generational Inequality and the Housing Crisis.’
Danai Koutra is an Associate Professor in Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and an Amazon Scholar. Her research focuses on large-scale graph mining, graph neural networks, and interpretable machine learning methods for understanding complex networks. Key roles include leading the GEMS Lab and contributing to projects like DeltaCon (graph similarity) and VoG (graph summarization). She holds a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University and has authored over 80 publications in top venues like KDD, SDM, and NeurIPS. Educations: PhD in Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University (2015) MS in Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University (2015) Diploma in Electrical & Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens (2010) Research Interests: Her work spans graph mining, anomaly detection, knowledge graph completion, and applications in neuroscience, healthcare, and social networks. Recent projects include MAGNET (multi-agent graph networks) and GT2VEC (multimodal graph-text encoders). Grants & Awards: Recipient of the 2025 PECASE award, NSF CAREER Award (2019), and the 2016 ACM SIGKDD Dissertation Award. Active in organizing conferences like KDD and ECML/PKDD. Labs & Teams: Directs the GEMS Lab, collaborating on projects like FIDDLE (clinical data preprocessing) and SpecGreedy (dense subgraph detection). Engages in interdisciplinary efforts, including M-DICE (urban mobility analysis with Detroit).
Demetris Christodoulou is an Associate Professor in Accounting, Governance and Regulation at the University of Sydney. He holds a BEcon from Piraeus University, an MSc(Fin) from the University of York (UK), and a PhD from Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB). His research focuses on applying data analytics, econometrics, and visualization techniques to financial analysis, equity valuation, life insurance, and financial advice. He co-directs the PEMA research group, specializing in productivity and performance measurement analytics, and previously led the MEAFA research group (2007–2022). He has collaborated extensively with industry partners including Deloitte and Australian insurers, and developed training programs for over 1,000 executives. His work includes open-source contributions to Stata software and the Graph Workflow platform, alongside $662k in workshop-generated funds supporting academic programs. He has advised multiple PhD students and taught at leading universities globally. Education: BEcon in Economics (Econometrics), Piraeus University MSc in Finance, University of York (UK) PhD in Accounting and Financial Analysis, Athens University of Economics and Business His research interests span financial reporting models, life insurance underwriting strategies, and behavioral finance. Recent projects address dishonesty mitigation in insurance disclosures and the adviser effect on customer disclosures. He has published widely in top journals like the Review of Accounting Studies and Stata Journal , and his work was featured in The Australian for insights on insurance fraud reduction. He maintains international collaborations, including visiting roles at Columbia Business School and the University of Cyprus, and serves on advisory boards for organizations like Behaviour.ai. Publications highlight methodological innovations in econometrics and visualization, with 2025's upcoming Stata Journal paper advancing time-series analysis techniques. His grants include partnerships with industry on longitudinal studies of insured lives, aiming to improve risk modeling and public policy insights.
Andrea Tagliasacchi is an Associate Professor at Simon Fraser University's School of Computing Science, holding the Visual Computing Research Chair. He is also a part-time (20%) staff research scientist at Google DeepMind (Toronto) and an associate professor (status-only) at the University of Toronto's computer science department. His research focuses on 3D visual perception at the intersection of computer vision, graphics, and machine learning. Education: EPFL – Postdoc Simon Fraser University – PhD (NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Fellow) Politecnico di Milano – MSc (Gold Medalist) Research Interests: His work emphasizes 3D reconstruction, neural fields, and applications in robotics, autonomous systems, and augmented reality. Recent advancements include scalable 3D Gaussian splatting, robust neural rendering techniques, and diffusion models for 4D generation. Notable Articles: Recent work spans real-time differentiable ray tracing, stochastic rasterization for 3D Gaussian splats, and generative image composition using neural fields. His publications often blend theoretical contributions with practical applications in CVPR, SIGGRAPH, and NeurIPS. Awards: 2015 SGP Best Paper Award 2020 CVPR Best Student Paper Award 2024 CVPR Best Paper Honorable Mention Advising & Grants: Advised 14+ PhD/MSc students (e.g., Baptiste Angles, Sara Sabour) and co-advised with notable figures like Geoffrey Hinton. Active in grants involving neural field compression, robotic perception, and generative AI. Labs & Teams: Leads a lab at SFU focused on 3D vision and neural fields, collaborating with industry partners like Google Brain and Samsung Research.
Dr. Jérôme Verny is an Associate Professor specializing in transport, logistics, and supply chain management. He is the founder and director of the research institute in innovative transport and logistics, as well as the co-founder of the DISC Master's program (Digital & Innovative Supply Chain) in Paris and the Mobility Accelerator. His expertise spans digitalization in logistics, blockchain applications, and sustainable development. Educated at the University of Lille Nord de France (PhD in Economics and Management) and engineering schools like École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, he advises both public institutions (OECD, EU) and private enterprises on transportation strategies. Research Interests: Dr. Verny focuses on supply chain innovation, digital transformation, and strategic logistics. His work integrates blockchain technology for supply chain transparency, optimizes last-mile delivery in urban environments, and analyzes the impact of geopolitical actors like China on global trade networks. He also explores sustainable practices in transportation, including CO2 reduction strategies and pandemic response logistics. Awards: Recipient of the 2009 OECD-FIT Young Researcher Prize in Transport. His contributions bridge academic research with practical applications in industry, policy, and international trade. Key Activities: Co-founded the DISC Master’s program and leads research initiatives on blockchain adoption, Arctic shipping routes, and Mediterranean trade dynamics. He actively contributes to conferences such as the International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME) and publishes in journals like Structural Change and Economic Dynamics and International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics . Labs/Teams: Directs the Institut de Recherche en Transport et Logistique Innovante and collaborates with institutions like the OECD and European Commission on transport policy. His interdisciplinary approach involves engineering, economics, and data science to address global supply chain challenges.
Elizabeth Bernstein is a Professor of Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies and Professor of Sociology at Barnard College, Columbia University, where she has been a faculty member since September 2002. Her work bridges sociological theory with feminist analysis, focusing on the intersections of gender, sexuality, and political economy. Bernstein directs significant research initiatives including the Gender Justice and Neoliberal Transformations Working Group, a transnational collaboration among thirteen scholars examining gender justice in contemporary global contexts. She is currently developing a new book project titled "Imagining Immunity: Precarious Bodies and the Governance of Gendered Dis-ease," which explores immunological metaphors in understanding bodily risk and suffering. B.A., University of California, Berkeley M.A., University of California, Berkeley Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley Professor Bernstein's research focuses on the political economy of the body, gender, and sexuality, with particular attention to sexual commerce, sex trafficking, and neoliberal governance. Her work employs ethnographic methods to examine how intimate relations become sites of economic exchange and political regulation. She investigates how concepts of authenticity, freedom, and rights are mobilized in debates about sexual commerce and trafficking. Bernstein's scholarship critically engages with feminist theory, carceral politics, and transnational governance frameworks, challenging conventional approaches to sex work and trafficking that often reinforce punitive systems rather than advancing gender justice. Analysis of Bernstein's scholarly output reveals a consistent trajectory examining the intersections of gender, sexuality, and political economy within neoliberal frameworks. Her work demonstrates increasing attention to transnational governance mechanisms and their impact on intimate relations and bodily autonomy. A notable trend is her critical examination of how anti-trafficking campaigns often employ carceral logic that undermines feminist goals of gender justice. Her scholarship consistently challenges binary frameworks that position sex work solely as exploitation or liberation, instead analyzing the complex economic, political, and social dynamics that shape sexual commerce globally. Bernstein's research has received significant recognition through prestigious awards including: Distinguished Book Award, American Sociological Association, Sociology of Sexualities Section (2020) for "Brokered Subjects" Honorable Mention, Society for the Study of Social Problems Global Division Book Award (2019) Norbert Elias Prize, Norbert Elias Foundation (2009) Distinguished Book Award, American Sociological Association, Sex and Gender Section (2009) Her work has also been supported by major funding organizations including the Institute for Advanced Study, National Science Foundation, Social Science Research Council, AAUW, and Mellon Foundation. As a principal investigator along with Janet Jakobsen for the Gender Justice and Neoliberal Transformations Working Group, Bernstein leads a significant collaborative research initiative sponsored by the Barnard Center for Research on Women. Her grant portfolio demonstrates sustained support from major research institutions, reflecting the significance of her work in gender studies and sociology. While specific student advisees aren't listed in the available materials, her role as a full professor at Barnard College indicates extensive mentorship of undergraduate and likely graduate students in Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies and Sociology. Bernstein co-leads the Gender Justice and Neoliberal Transformations Working Group, a collaboration among thirteen scholars working transnationally on questions of gender justice. This initiative represents a significant research collective examining how neoliberal policies reshape gender relations globally. Her work with the Barnard Center for Research on Women provides institutional support for this transnational feminist research network, facilitating scholarly exchange and collaborative publication projects that advance critical perspectives on gender, sexuality, and political economy.
Alexander Manevitz is an Assistant Professor at the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, Baruch College (City University of New York), specializing in African American history, 19th-century U.S. history, and historical memory. His research explores urbanism, race, and capitalism, particularly through the lens of Seneca Village, a free Black community displaced during Central Park’s creation. Education: Ph.D., U.S. History, New York University (2016) B.A., History, Trinity College (Hartford) His research focuses on the intersection of race, property regimes, and urban development in antebellum New York City. He is currently finalizing a book manuscript with Cornell University Press titled The Rise and Fall of Seneca Village: Remaking Race and Space in Nineteenth-Century New York City , analyzing how marginalized communities navigated systemic discrimination and urban transformation. Manevitz’s recent publications and media contributions examine themes like urban capitalism, Reconstruction’s legacy, and archival recovery. His 2022 article in the Journal of Urban History investigates racial and economic inequalities in 19th-century New York City, while his 2020 Washington Post piece connects Reconstruction-era failures to contemporary racial justice issues. Scientific Awards: Robert Friedman Professor of American History (2024) Faculty Fellowship Publication Program (CUNY, 2023) Bernard and Irene Schwartz Postdoctoral Fellow (2019) Junior Faculty Research Fellowship (Trinity College, 2017) Bessie and George Levy Award for Excellence in American History (2014) Manevitz teaches courses in American history, African American history, and urban capitalism, employing interdisciplinary methods to amplify diverse voices. He has collaborated with institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New-York Historical Society, emphasizing public scholarship and community engagement.
Joydeep Biswas is an Associate Professor in the Computer Science Department at the University of Texas at Austin, where he serves as the Director of the Autonomous Mobile Robotics Laboratory (AMRL). He is also affiliated with Texas Robotics, the UT Machine Learning Laboratory, and UT Good Systems. Previously, he was an Assistant Professor in the College of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Dr. Biswas earned his PhD in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University in 2014 and his B.Tech in Engineering Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in 2008. His educational background has provided him with a strong foundation in both theoretical and applied aspects of robotics and artificial intelligence. Dr. Biswas's research focuses on enabling long-term autonomy for mobile robots operating in human environments. His work spans robot perception, motion planning, control systems, and AI, with the ultimate goal of creating self-sufficient autonomous mobile robots that can perform tasks accurately and robustly in real-world settings. He is particularly interested in perception, planning, and failure recovery for autonomous mobile robots, which supports his vision of having autonomous service mobile robots deployed at campus-to-city scale, both indoors and outdoors, performing assistive tasks over deployments spanning years. His IJCAI 2019 Early Career Spotlight talk summarizes much of his research to date and ongoing interests. His recent research has shown a strong trend toward social navigation, human-robot interaction, and the application of machine learning techniques to robotics problems. There's a clear progression from fundamental robotics research toward more complex, real-world applications that require robots to understand and navigate human social spaces effectively. His work increasingly integrates large language models and other advanced AI techniques with traditional robotics approaches, as evidenced by his recent publications on topics like preference-conditioned navigation, social navigation benchmarks, and instruction-following navigation systems. Dr. Biswas has received numerous prestigious awards including the NSF CAREER Award (2021), J.P. Morgan Faculty Research Award (2019), Amazon Research Award (2019), and a grant from Northrop Grumman Mission Systems (2018). These awards recognize his innovative contributions to the field of robotics and autonomous systems. As a dedicated educator and mentor, Dr. Biswas actively supervises PhD and master's students, with his PhD student Sadegh Rabiee winning the student poster award at the Northrop Grumman University Symposium 2019. He has secured significant grant funding from the National Science Foundation for projects including 'Introspective Perception and Planning for Long-Term Autonomy' and 'Interactive Synthesis and Repair For Robot Programs,' demonstrating his ability to secure competitive research funding and his commitment to advancing the field. Dr. Biswas leads the Autonomous Mobile Robotics Laboratory (AMRL), which serves as a hub for interdisciplinary research in mobile robotics. The lab has developed notable resources such as the UT Campus Object Dataset (CODA) for 3D perception research and SOCIALGYM, a framework for benchmarking social robot navigation. His team regularly deploys robots on the UT Austin campus and in urban environments to test and refine their approaches in realistic settings, bridging the gap between simulation and real-world application.
Matthew Osman is an Assistant Professor of Climate Science in the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge. He leads the Cambridge Computational Climate and PaleOceanography (C3PO) group and serves as a supervisor for the Cambridge NERC Doctoral Landscape Awards (DLA). Dr. Osman's research focuses on understanding climate dynamics across various timescales by integrating geochemical proxy records, modern observations, and climate model simulations. His work centers on: Developing quantitative tools to reconstruct past climates and constrain future projections Using data assimilation and modeling methods for key climate intervals (mid-Pliocene, Last Ice Age, interglacials) Creating probabilistic frameworks combining proxies with climate simulations Developing statistical proxy system models for ice cores and marine records Investigating cryosphere-climate feedbacks, particularly ice sheets and sea ice His research spans sub-seasonal to millennial time intervals, specializing in bridging climate proxies with global climate models. He works closely with the international PMIP/CMIP community on projects spanning Arctic sea ice sensitivity, AMOC weakening, and carbon cycle feedbacks. Dr. Osman actively supervises PhD students through the Department of Geography PhD Program and encourages students interested in quantitative climate science to develop projects in: Using paleo data to constrain future climate projections Developing fingerprinting techniques for proxy records Building probabilistic proxy system models Applying paleoclimate data assimilation during ice sheet collapse Climate risk modeling using physics-informed statistics The C3PO group maintains a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion, welcoming researchers from all backgrounds to address the climate crisis through quantitative, multidisciplinary approaches.
