Sampath Jayarathna

Sampath Jayarathna is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Old Dominion University, part of the College of Science. His research focuses on Neuro-Information Retrieval, Data Science, and Human-Computer Interaction, with a particular emphasis on eye tracking, biometrics, and wearable devices. He holds a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University and has been at ODU since 2018. Jayarathna has received multiple accolades, including the NSF CAREER Award in 2021 and the ODUAA New Faculty Award. His work bridges disciplines, applying computational techniques to understand user behavior and develop adaptive interfaces for accessibility.

Education: Ph.D. in Computer Science (Texas A&M University, 2016), M.S. (Texas State University, 2010), B.S. (University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2006). Prior to ODU, he was on the faculty at Cal Poly Pomona.

Research Interests: Neuro-Information Retrieval (eye tracking, EEG, oculomotor systems), Data Science (multi-modal sensing, user interest modeling), Human-Computer Interaction (recommender systems, accessibility for visually impaired users). His lab develops tools like the Neuro Information Retrieval and Data Science Lab, supported by grants such as NSF CAREER and COVA-CCI.

His recent work includes enhancing accessibility for blind users in e-commerce and data visualization, detecting deceptive web advertisements, and real-time cognitive load analysis via pupillary metrics. He has authored over 50 publications in top-tier venues like IEEE Transactions and ACM conferences.

Awards include the 2025 COS Outreach Award, 2023 NSF S&CC-PG grant, and the 2021 Provost's Award for Mentoring. He advises numerous students, with a focus on inclusive technologies and interdisciplinary research.

Labs/Teams: Leads the Neuro Information Retrieval and Data Science Lab, collaborating on projects like distributed eye-tracking systems (DisETrac) and gaze analytics dashboards. Active in grants involving disinformation detection and secure IoT applications.