Nadia Figueroa is the Shalini and Rajeev Misra Presidential Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM) Department at the University of Pennsylvania. She holds secondary appointments in Computer and Information Science (CIS) and Electrical and Systems Engineering (ESE), and is a core faculty member at the GRASP Lab. Prior to Penn, she was a Postdoctoral Associate at MIT’s CSAIL and earned her PhD in Robotics from EPFL under Prof. Aude Billard. Her research focuses on physical and perceptual adaptive intelligence for robots, enabling fluid collaboration with humans in dynamic environments. Key applications include robot learning from demonstration , human-robot co-manipulation , safe navigation in human-centric spaces , and rehabilitation robotics . Her work integrates machine learning control theory artificial intelligence biomechanics psychology with guarantees of stability, safety, and robustness . Recent publications highlight advancements in reactive collision avoidance dynamical system learning intent estimation EEG-driven assistive control origami-based reconfigurable robots across platforms like autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots. She has authored a 2022 textbook on dynamical systems for robot control and received the Presidential Assistant Professorship at Penn.
Oscar Randal-Williams is the Sadleirian Professor of Pure Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, where he is affiliated with the Faculty of Mathematics and the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics (DPMMS). His work is centered in the Differential Geometry & Topology research group, where he contributes to advancing knowledge in geometric and algebraic topology. Professor Randal-Williams specializes in Algebraic and Geometric Topology, with particular expertise in mapping class groups, moduli spaces, cobordism categories, spaces of manifolds, surgery theory, configuration spaces, characteristic classes, and K-theory. His research explores the deep connections between homotopy theory and geometric structures, with applications across various mathematical domains. His work often bridges abstract algebraic structures with concrete geometric problems, creating new frameworks for understanding topological phenomena. An analysis of Professor Randal-Williams' recent publications reveals a strong focus on homological stability phenomena, mapping class groups of high-dimensional manifolds, and the interplay between algebraic structures and geometric topology. His work frequently involves E ∞ -algebras, general linear groups, and the topology of diffeomorphism groups. A significant portion of his research investigates the structure of moduli spaces of manifolds and their connections to algebraic K-theory, with recent work extending to applications in mathematical physics through studies of symmetries in quantum field theories. Professor Randal-Williams maintains active collaborations with leading mathematicians worldwide, including Søren Galatius, Alexander Kupers, and Jeremy Miller, among others. His research has been published in top-tier mathematical journals including the Annals of Mathematics, Inventiones Mathematicae, and the Journal of the American Mathematical Society.
Ole Winther is Professor in High dimensional biological data analysis/Machine learning at the Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen and Professor in Data science and complexity at DTU Compute, Technical University of Denmark. He serves as CRO and co-founder of raffle.ai, CTO and co-founder of FindZebra, Head of ELLIS Unit Copenhagen, and co-PI of the Machine Learning for Life Science Center. His research spans Bioinformatics , Machine Learning , and AI for Science , focusing on applying deep learning to biological sequence analysis, latent variable models, and medical NLP. Winther's work develops predictive and generative models for bioinformatics, with significant contributions to protein localization tools (SignalP, DeepLoc, DeepTMHMM), single-cell genomics, and novel deep learning architectures like variational autoencoders and diffusion models. Analysis of Winther's recent publications (2023-2025) reveals a strong trend toward integrating protein language models with traditional bioinformatics approaches and applying diffusion models to scientific problems. His work bridges theoretical machine learning advancements with practical applications in biology and medicine, particularly in protein sequence analysis, medical search engines, and scientific simulation acceleration. Winther currently supervises a diverse research group including Panagiotis Antoniadis, Rachael M. DeVries, Jun Wang, Beatrix M. G. Nielsen, Felix G. Teufel, Irene R. Rodriguez, Anders Christensen, and Christopher Heje Grønbech. His former students have established successful careers at institutions including Google, Apple, and various startups, with notable alumni like Casper Sønderby (Google Brain) and Søren Sønderby (Apple). He leads significant research initiatives including the ELLIS Unit Copenhagen and the Machine Learning for Life Science Center, while maintaining active industry partnerships through his co-founded companies raffle.ai (enterprise search using NLP) and FindZebra (search engine for rare diseases). His teaching includes Deep Learning courses at both DTU (02456) and University of Copenhagen (NDAK24002U).
Renjie Feng is a Research Fellow in Mathematics and AI at the School of Mathematics and Statistics and the Sydney Mathematical Research Institute , University of Sydney. His work bridges probability theory, statistics, and applications in machine learning, deep learning, and artificial intelligence. His research interests focus on probability theory and its applications to machine learning , random matrix theory , and statistical physics . He investigates extreme value problems, spectral properties of random matrices, and topological features of random fields over Riemannian manifolds. Recent publications highlight trends in random matrix theory (GUE, GOE, GSE), extreme gap problems , determinantal point processes , and Wiener chaos . Collaborative works with F. Götze, D. Yao, and R. Adler emphasize U-statistics , multivariate linear statistics , and random topology inspired by Poisson point process studies.
Jeffrey F. Brock is the Dean of the School of Engineering & Applied Science and the William S. Massey Professor of Mathematics at Yale University. He holds the Zhao and Ji Chair in Mathematics. His research focuses on low-dimensional geometry and topology, particularly hyperbolic geometry and its applications to data analysis. He completed his undergraduate studies at Yale and earned his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley. He held positions at Stanford, the University of Chicago, and Brown University, where he chaired the Mathematics Department from 2013 to 2017 and founded Brown’s Data Science Initiative in 2016. He joined Yale in 2018, serving as inaugural Dean of Science in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences until assuming his current role in 2022. He is a Guggenheim Fellow and Fellow of the American Mathematical Society. His research spans hyperbolic 3-manifolds, Teichmüller dynamics, and geometric methods in data science. Notable contributions include work on Thurston’s geometrization program, classification of hyperbolic manifolds, and applications of geometric topology to complex datasets. He co-authored foundational papers on ending laminations, Weil-Petersson geometry, and renormalized volume. His recent work bridges pure mathematics with applied challenges, such as algorithmic detection of medical imaging patterns. Awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship (2008) and AMS Fellow (2017), Brock has also led interdisciplinary initiatives at Brown and Yale. His administrative roles include overseeing engineering, natural sciences, and data science programs. Beyond academia, he co-founded the Vijay Iyer Trio, showcasing his passion for music performance and creativity.
LEONG Tze Yun is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the School of Computing, National University of Singapore (NUS). She holds S.B., S.M., and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her academic career spans both research and industry experience, with significant contributions to the fields of artificial intelligence and health informatics. Dr. Leong's educational background includes: Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology S.M. in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology S.B. in Computer Science & Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Her primary research interests focus on responsible AI, dynamic decision-making, neurocognitive modeling, reinforcement learning, artificial general intelligence, and biomedical and health informatics. Her work bridges the gap between theoretical AI development and practical healthcare applications, with an emphasis on ethical considerations and human-centered design. She directs the Medical Computing Laboratory at NUS, a multidisciplinary research program exploring human-aware decision modeling in complex environments. Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong trend toward responsible AI development, with significant contributions to reinforcement learning techniques, causal inference methods, and applications of AI in healthcare. Her work increasingly integrates ethical considerations with technical AI development, particularly evident in her 2024 publications on medical AI and human values. Her scientific recognition includes: Fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) Founding Fellow of the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics (IAHSI) Member of Eta Kappa Nu (Honor Society for Electrical Engineers) Dr. Leong has supervised numerous doctoral and master's students throughout her career, many of whom have gone on to prominent positions at institutions like Google, Netflix, Mayo Clinic, and academic institutions worldwide. Her advisory work extends to significant policy development, including contributions to WHO guidance on ethics and governance of AI for health. She currently serves on the World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Group on Ethics and Governance of AI for Health, the World Economic Forum (WEF) AI Governance Alliance, and the Advisory Council on AI in Uzbekistan. Her laboratory work focuses on developing adaptive systems that evolve with changing technical functionalities, system infrastructures, usage patterns, and operational contexts, with applications spanning prediction and decision analytics, human-aware robotics, game artificial intelligence, personalized education, and assistive care for elderly with neurocognitive disorders.
Mark Crowley is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo, with a cross-appointment in the Cheriton School of Computer Science. He is a member of the Waterloo Artificial Intelligence Institute (WAII) and the Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation (WICI), and serves as National Secretary of the Canadian Artificial Intelligence Association (CAIAC). His educational background includes a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of British Columbia, where he worked in the Laboratory for Computational Intelligence, and a B.A. in Computer Science from York University. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Oregon State University working with Tom Dietterich's machine learning group. Crowley's research focuses on developing dependable and transparent algorithms to augment human decision-making in complex domains with multiple agents, spatial structure, or uncertainty. His work spans Reinforcement Learning , Deep Learning , Ensemble Methods , and Manifold Learning . He frequently collaborates with researchers in applied fields including Computational Sustainability, Sustainable Forest Management, Autonomous Driving, Medical Imaging, and Material Design. His research is motivated by both theoretical opportunities and real-world challenges such as forest fire management, automotive applications, and medical imaging. His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on addressing challenges in reinforcement learning, particularly around observation costs, multi-agent systems, and causal representation learning. His work on ChemGymRL provides a significant contribution to digital chemistry and material design through reinforcement learning frameworks. The textbook Elements of Dimensionality Reduction and Manifold Learning represents a major contribution to the theoretical foundations of machine learning. Crowley actively supervises graduate students, with recent thesis completions including Shayan Shirahmadi Gale Bagi (PhD, Feb 2025) and Oleksandra Nahorna (MASc, Dec 2024). His lab, UWECEML (Waterloo ECE Machine Learning Lab), focuses on developing new algorithms at the intersection of Machine Learning, Optimization, and Probabilistic Modeling. He teaches courses including ECE 457C (Reinforcement Learning), ECE 657A (Data & Knowledge Modelling & Analysis), and ECE 457B (Fundamentals of Computational Intelligence). His blog Computationally Thinking explores AI, machine learning, and the societal impact of these technologies.
Prof. Michael Moor is a tenure-track Assistant Professor for Medical AI at ETH Zurich's Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering in Basel. Previously, he conducted postdoctoral research at Stanford University under Prof. Jure Leskovec, focusing on medical foundation models. His work spans causal learning, multimodal AI, and sepsis prediction. Moor holds an MD from the University of Basel and a PhD from ETH Zurich's Machine Learning and Computational Biology Lab under Prof. Karsten Borgwardt. Research Interests: Generalist medical AI models Multimodal medical reasoning Zero-shot and few-shot learning Clinical causal inference Retrieval-augmented language models Sepsis prediction systems Key Achievements: Published foundational work in Nature (2023) on generalist medical AI Developed Med-Flamingo multimodal model (2023) Zero-shot causal learning framework accepted to NeurIPS 2023 (Spotlight) International sepsis prediction study with 156k ICU patients (2023) Lab Activities: Leads ETH's Medical Foundation Models group, collaborating with Stanford HAI and NASA Ames. Active in creating medical AI benchmarks like AgentClinic and developing retrieval-augmented systems like Almanac.
Professor Jelena Grbic is a distinguished mathematician serving as Professor of Mathematics within the School of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Southampton since 2012. Her academic journey began with a B.Sc. in Mathematics from the University of Belgrade, Serbia in 1997, followed by a Ph.D. in Algebraic Topology from the University of Aberdeen in 2004. Prior to her current position, she held academic appointments at the University of Manchester (2007-2012) as Lecturer and Senior Lecturer, and at the University of Aberdeen (2004-2006) as Lecturer. Professor Grbic's research spans multiple interconnected domains of pure mathematics, with a primary focus on modern homotopy theory, particularly unstable homotopy theory, and its applications across topology, algebra, and geometry. Her work centers on decompositions and exponent problems in homotopy theory, homotopy aspects of Toric Topology, Hopf algebras, and geometric problems related to cobordisms and string topology. This research bridges abstract mathematical theory with potential applications in data science and computational topology. Analysis of her recent publications (2020-2025) reveals a consistent research trajectory in algebraic topology with increasing interdisciplinary connections. Her work demonstrates sophisticated mathematical techniques applied to complex topological structures, particularly moment-angle complexes and polyhedral products. Notably, her 2022 paper 'Aspects of topological approaches for data science' indicates growing interest in applying topological methods to contemporary data analysis problems, suggesting an expanding research horizon beyond pure mathematics. Professor Grbic actively supervises PhD students, including current student Salvatore Elia in Mathematical Sciences, and teaches modules covering algebraic topology and homotopy theory. She serves as a reviewer for prestigious journals including Homology, Homotopy and Application (2019), Transactions of the London Mathematical Society (2021), and The LMS Newsletter (2017), contributing to the scholarly community through peer review and academic service.
Jeremy Hahn is an Assistant Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), affiliated with the Department of Mathematics within the School of Science. His research focuses on Algebraic Topology, particularly structured ring spectra, chromatic homotopy theory, and equivariant homotopy theory. Supported by grants from the Sloan Foundation and the National Science Foundation (DMS-1803273), his work has contributed to foundational advances in topological K-theory, algebraic K-theory, and manifold topology. Education details are not explicitly listed, though past teaching roles at Harvard University suggest prior academic training. His research interests span topics including: Structured ring spectra constructions (e.g., truncated Brown-Peterson spectra) Chromatic redshift phenomena and algebraic K-theory Equivariant orientations and C_p actions Applications of homotopy theory to manifold classification Notable recent work includes counterexamples to Ravenel's telescope conjecture, advancements in motivic filtrations of topological cyclic homology, and the construction of multiplicative structures on classical spectra. Collaborations with researchers such as Robert Burklund, Dylan Wilson, and Allen Yuan reflect his active engagement in the global topology research community. Teaching includes advanced courses like Algebraic Topology I (18.905) and past roles as a teaching assistant for Linear Algebra (18.06) and multivariable calculus at MIT. His research has been supported by multiple NSF grants and the Sloan Fellowship, indicating sustained academic excellence and leadership in the field.
Prof. Harry Hyungryul Baik is a Tenured Associate Professor at KAIST's Department of Mathematical Sciences since 2017. He holds a PhD from Cornell University (2014) and a B.S. from KAIST (2009), advised by William Thurston, John Hubbard, and Dylan Thurston. His research focuses on geometric topology, geometric group theory, and low-dimensional topology, with notable contributions to mapping class groups, Kleinian groups, and Teichmüller theory. Education: PhD in Mathematics (Cornell, 2014), B.S. in Mathematics (KAIST, 2009). Key research areas include asymptotic translation lengths, laminar groups, and circular orders of groups. He co-leads the KAIST-KIAS joint research group 2K-GATE as Director, emphasizing collaboration between topologists. Research highlights: Characterization of Fuchsian groups via laminations, unsmoothability of mapping class group actions on 1-manifolds, and exponential torsion growth in random 3-manifolds. His work bridges topology with dynamical systems and geometric group theory, often involving collaborations with institutions like KIAS and MPIM. Awards include the Sangsan Prize (2018), Young-KAST membership (2020–2023), and multiple grants from Samsung and POSCO. He advises 7 PhD students and has mentored 15+ alumni, many of whom hold postdoc positions globally. His lab actively hosts conferences like the KAIST Geometric Topology Fair. Labs/Teams: Director of 2K-GATE (KAIST-KIAS), core member of the KAIST Topology Research Group, collaborator with international networks including the Harvard-MIT-Princeton topology axis.
Heather Battey is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Imperial College London's Faculty of Natural Sciences. Her work bridges foundational statistical theory with practical scientific applications, focusing on parametrization effects, sparsity, and high-dimensional inference. Education PhD, University of Cambridge (2008-2011) Research Interests Battey's research examines how model structure and parametrization influence inferential procedures, particularly in high-dimensional settings. She investigates the equivalence between sparsity and reparametrization, and challenges traditional Fisherian statistical abstractions through modern practices. Her publications reveal a pattern of innovation in high-dimensional regression, covariance matrix analysis, and statistical methodology for complex data. Collaborations span disciplines including machine learning, economics, and biomedical research. Scientific Awards Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (2023) EPSRC Early Career Research Fellowship (2020-2026) EPSRC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (2017-2020) Advising and Grants Battey supervises PhD students Charlotte Edgar, Jakub Rybak, and Rebecca Lewis, with informal guidance to Henrique Hoeltgebaum. Over 15 pre-doctoral researchers have been mentored in topics ranging from support vector machines to spatial point processes. Current funding includes an EPSRC grant for theoretical foundations of inference with nuisance parameters and prior support for covariance matrix inference.
Megan Kerr serves as the Katharine and Claudine Malone '63 Professor of Mathematics at Wellesley College, where she teaches across the mathematics curriculum from calculus to advanced topics in geometry. Her academic home is within the Mathematics & Statistics Department at this prestigious women's liberal arts college. Her educational journey began as an undergraduate at Wellesley College, where she later returned as faculty, completing a full circle in her academic career. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania under the supervision of Wolfgang Ziller, with research focused on Homogeneous Einstein Metrics. Professor Kerr's research centers on global differential geometry, particularly exploring the interplay between curvature constraints and large symmetry groups. She specializes in homogeneous and low-cohomogeneity spaces, investigating fundamental questions about the existence of geometric structures, their rarity or commonality, and potential obstructions. Her work bridges the analytic concept of curvature with the algebraic framework of Lie groups, and she has recently expanded into geometric analysis where topology plays a significant role. Analysis of her publication record reveals a consistent focus on homogeneous Einstein metrics across three decades, with particular attention to curvature properties, symmetry constraints, and classification problems in both positive and negative curvature settings. Her research has evolved from foundational work on symmetric spaces to more complex non-symmetric examples and specialized curvature conditions, demonstrating both depth and breadth in differential geometry. Katharine and Claudine Malone '63 Professor of Mathematics Radcliffe Institute Fellowship As an alumna of Wellesley College, Professor Kerr maintains a strong commitment to encouraging women in mathematics. She teaches a diverse range of courses including calculus, linear algebra, combinatorics, real analysis, non-Euclidean geometry, differential geometry, topology, knot theory, and matrix groups as an introduction to Lie groups. Her teaching philosophy emphasizes developing mathematical understanding and confidence that benefits students regardless of their major. Her research has taken her to international destinations including Australia, Germany, and Mexico, reflecting the global nature of her scholarly collaborations.
Dr. Konstantin (Kostia) M. Zuev serves as Teaching Professor in the Computing + Mathematical Sciences Department at California Institute of Technology , where he has made significant contributions to network science and computational statistics since 2016. His dual PhDs in Mathematics (Moscow State University, 2008) and Civil Engineering (HKUST, 2009) underpin his interdisciplinary research spanning differential geometry, stochastic simulation, and network dynamics. Education PhD in Mathematics, Lomonosov Moscow State University (2008) PhD in Civil Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (2009) His research focuses on network science , particularly course-prerequisite networks and complex financial systems , with recent work extending to network navigability in cosmological models and rare event simulation. Over his career, he has developed innovative Bayesian inference methods and geometric preferential attachment theories while maintaining active collaborations across mathematics, physics, and biomedical domains. Recent publications highlight network analysis in education ( 2023 ), hyperbolic graph theory ( 2024 ), and pandemic-informed cancer mortality studies ( 2023 ). His 15 most recent articles demonstrate methodological innovations across disciplines including statistics, physics, finance, and cosmology. Scientific recognition includes Humboldt Research Fellowship (2021) Carver Mead Seed Fund Grant (2023) ASCIT Teaching Award (2018, 2023) Northrop Grumman Teaching Excellence Prize (2019) As Graduate Option Representative for Information and Data Sciences at Caltech and faculty advisor for multiple student organizations including the Caltech Karate Club and Caltech Chess Club , he actively bridges academic rigor with community engagement through outreach initiatives like the virtual math education channel and university math circles for K-12 students.
Daniel A. Spielman is a Sterling Professor of Computer Science, Statistics & Data Science, and Mathematics at Yale University. He serves as the inaugural James A. Attwood Director of the Institute for Foundations of Data Science (FDS) and was previously co-Director of the Yale Institute for Network Science (YINS). He is also a member of TILOS, the NSF Institute for Learning-Enabled Optimization at Scale. His research interests span Spectral Graph Theory, Algebraic Graph Theory, Laplacian Matrices, Expander Graphs, and Random Walks on Graphs. Spielman has made fundamental contributions to understanding the mathematical foundations of data science, including work on smoothed analysis of algorithms, spectral sparsification, and solutions to the Kadison-Singer problem. Spielman's publications demonstrate a consistent focus on developing efficient algorithms with strong theoretical foundations. His work bridges pure mathematics, theoretical computer science, and practical applications in network analysis and machine learning. His research has evolved from foundational work on smoothed analysis to recent contributions in experimental design using discrepancy theory. His scientific honors include: Nevanlinna Prize for contributions to mathematical aspects of computer science Two Gödel Prizes (2008 and 2015) for outstanding papers in theoretical computer science MacArthur Fellowship ('Genius Grant') Simons Investigator award Membership in the National Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Arts and Sciences Spielman has advised numerous PhD students who have gone on to prominent positions in academia and industry. His teaching includes advanced courses in Spectral Graph Theory and Computation and Optimization. He has developed important software packages like Laplacians.jl for solving Laplacian linear equations and related problems.
