معرفی
Lydia E. Kavraki is the Noah Harding Professor of Computer Science and Professor of Bioengineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering at Rice University. As Director of the Ken Kennedy Institute, she leads initiatives in AI, data science, and computing across seven schools and 27 departments.
- B.A., University of Crete (1989)
- Ph.D., Stanford University (1994)
Her research bridges robotics, AI, and computational biomedicine. In robotics, she pioneered sampling-based motion planning (OMPL library) and recently developed microsecond-level planning frameworks. In biomedicine, her work focuses on peptide-HLA interactions, personalized immunotherapy, and drug metabolite prediction, with tools like APE-Gen and DINC.
Recent publication trends highlight her interdisciplinary work: 2022 PNAS Nexus study on HLA charge interactions, 2020 Frontiers in Immunology work on TCR cross-reactivity, and 2017 structural modeling of immune checkpoints. Themes include structure-based drug discovery, AI-driven motion planning, and ethical AI considerations.
Scientific honors include:
- IEEE Frances E. Allen Medal (2023)
- ACM-AAAI Allen Newell Award (2020)
- ACM Athena Lecturer (2017)
- Three National Academy memberships (NAS/NAE/NAM)
- NSF CAREER, Sloan Fellowship, Whitaker Investigator
Kavraki actively mentors students and postdocs, with over 40 alumni in academia and industry. Her Ken Kennedy Institute leadership spans AI in Health Conference organization and industry partnerships.
