Fardina Fathmiul Alam

Fardina Fathmiul Alam is a Lecturer and Professional Track Faculty in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Maryland, College Park, within the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences. She serves as the Program Director for the Data Science Graduate Program and is instrumental in developing the new Data Science minor at UMD.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Computer Science, George Mason University, 2023
• M.S. in Computer Science, George Mason University, 2018
• B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering, Military Institute of Science and Technology, Bangladesh, 2013

Her research lies at the intersection of computational biology and artificial intelligence, with a focus on applying deep learning to structural bioinformatics, particularly protein structure representation learning. She also actively engages with generative AI, responsible AI, and data ethics, integrating these themes into both her research and curriculum development. Her interest in machine learning, data science, and natural language processing underscores her interdisciplinary approach.

While specific article titles are not listed in the provided texts, her scholarly contributions are recognized through high-impact publications in journals such as Biomolecules, where her work was selected as an Editor’s Choice Article and Cover Story in 2022, indicating strong relevance in computational biology and AI applications in life sciences.

Scientific Awards:

• Outstanding Dissertation Award 2023, George Mason University
• Biomolecules Editor's Choice Article 2022
• Title Story, Journal of Biomolecules, 2022
• Best Paper Award – Outstanding PhD Dissertation, CS, GMU (2023)
• Editor's Choice and Cover Story, Biomolecules Journal (2022)

Dr. Alam is actively involved in academic service and mentoring. She serves as Faculty Advisor for Nobanno – the Bangladeshi Graduate Student Association at UMD, and as Associate Guest Editor for Bioinformatics Advances (Oxford Academic). She was Program Co-Chair for the Computational Structural Bioinformatics Workshop (CSBW) at the ACM-BCB Conference in 2023. Her commitment to inclusive education drives her efforts to support underrepresented groups in STEM, particularly women. She is also deeply involved in curriculum innovation, including the development of a course titled 'Knowledge in Society: Science, Data, and Ethics' to promote ethical awareness in data science education.

She was previously a Graduate Research Assistant at the Computational Biology Lab at George Mason University under Professor Amarda Shehu, where her work was supported by an NSF FET Grant (#1900061). Her research continues to bridge computational methods with biological insight, contributing to advancements in AI-driven bioinformatics.