Ching Kwan Lee is a Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Her work focuses on global and comparative issues, including labor politics, political sociology, decolonization, and the dynamics of Chinese capitalism. She is renowned for her trilogy on Chinese labor and global expansion, including Gender and the South China Miracle , Against the Law , and The Specter of Global China . Lee has also authored groundbreaking studies on Hong Kong’s decolonization struggles and African-China relations. Education: PhD in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley. Research Interests : Globalization and its social impacts Comparative labor movements and protest dynamics Decolonization and postcolonial state formations Sino-African economic and labor relations Hong Kong’s political trajectory and transnational activism Her recent work explores resistance to 'global China,' including mass mobilizations in Hong Kong documented in Forever Hong Kong: A Global City’s Decolonization Struggle (2025). She co-edits the Cambridge Elements in Global China and leads the Global Hong Kong Studies @UC initiative. Awards & Recognition : 2024 Distinguished Career in Political Sociology Award Multiple book prizes for The Specter of Global China Fellowships at Stanford’s Center for Advanced Study and Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study Grants & Initiatives : Lead researcher on NSF grants studying platform capitalism and labor in China Initiated comparative projects on Brazil, India, China, and South Africa ( Southern Interregnum ) Co-editor of volumes on Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement and global labor studies
Dr. Corey T. Callaghan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida . Based at the Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center , his research focuses on global change ecology using big data from citizen science platforms like eBird and iNaturalist, combined with geospatial analyses and macroecological theory . Ph.D. (2019) from UNSW Sydney M.S. (2015) from Florida Atlantic University B.S. + B.S. (2013) from Canisius College His work examines urban ecology , including how species traits influence urban tolerance across birds, amphibians, and butterflies. He develops adaptive sampling frameworks to optimize citizen science data collection while addressing biases. Current projects analyze human-nature interactions through citizen science participation, secondary data in photographs, and machine learning for biodiversity monitoring. He actively contributes to conservation strategies for urban biodiversity and data-driven restoration efforts . Recent publications highlight his expertise in cross-taxa comparisons , continental-scale analyses , and ecosystem service quantification . He leads the Global Ecology Research Group at the University of Florida, emphasizing collaborative science and open-source methodologies .
Lerrel Pinto is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University (NYU), where he leads the General-purpose Robotics and AI Lab (GRAIL) as part of the CILVR research group. His work bridges the gap between theoretical machine learning and practical robotics applications, with a focus on enabling robots to generalize and adapt in real-world environments. Dr. Pinto received his undergraduate degree from IIT Guwahati, followed by a PhD from the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley before joining NYU as faculty. His research program centers on robot learning and decision making, with several key thrusts that demonstrate his innovative approach to robotics. Pinto's work emphasizes large-scale learning techniques that leverage both extensive data and sophisticated model architectures. A significant portion of his research focuses on representation learning for sensory data, particularly developing methods that enable robots to make sense of visual, tactile, and auditory inputs. His lab has made notable contributions to reinforcement learning algorithms that allow robots to adapt to new scenarios with minimal retraining. Pinto also champions open-source robotics , developing affordable robot platforms that democratize access to robotics research. Analysis of Pinto's recent publications reveals a strong trend toward multimodal perception in robotics, integrating visual, tactile, and auditory information to create more robust robot systems. His work increasingly focuses on zero-shot and few-shot learning capabilities, enabling robots to handle novel situations without extensive retraining. There's also a clear progression toward general-purpose robotics , moving away from task-specific solutions toward more flexible systems that can handle diverse real-world challenges. Dr. Pinto's scientific contributions have been recognized with several prestigious awards: Sloan Research Fellowship (2025) NSF CAREER Award (2024) RAL Early Career Award (2024) Best Student Paper Award at ICRA (2016) Outstanding Paper Award at MFM-EAI workshop at ICML (2024) Best Paper Award at NGSM workshop at ICML (2024) Best Student Paper Award at RSS (2023) As an advisor, Pinto has mentored numerous students who have gone on to impactful careers in both academia and industry. His former PhD student Denis Yarats co-founded Perplexity.AI, while Mahi Shafiullah became a postdoc at UC Berkeley and Meta AI. Many of his Masters students have pursued PhDs at top institutions like CMU, MIT, and Stanford, or joined leading robotics companies including 1X, Fauna Robotics, and NVIDIA. Pinto's lab has secured significant research funding, including the NSF CAREER award and likely other grants supporting his robotics research program. The General-purpose Robotics and AI Lab (GRAIL) that Pinto leads brings together a diverse team of researchers working on cutting-edge robotics challenges. The lab maintains strong collaborations with industry partners and other academic institutions, facilitating technology transfer and real-world impact. GRAIL's research spans multiple robotics platforms and focuses on developing algorithms that enable robots to learn from diverse experiences and generalize across environments.
Maja J Matarić is the Chan Soon-Shiong Chaired and Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering, with courtesy appointments in Neuroscience and Pediatrics. She serves as founding director of the USC Robotics and Autonomous Systems Center, co-director of the USC Robotics Research Lab, and Principal Scientist at Google DeepMind. Previously, she held leadership roles as USC's interim Vice President of Research (2020-2021) and Vice Dean for Research (2006-2019). Her educational background includes: PhD in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence from MIT (1994) MS in Computer Science from MIT (1990) BS in Computer Science from University of Kansas (1987) Matarić pioneers Socially Assistive Robotics (SAR) , a field her lab named, focusing on human-robot interaction that provides assistance through social rather than physical support. Her research targets critical health and wellness challenges including post-stroke rehabilitation, autism spectrum disorder therapy, cognitive exercises for Alzheimer's patients, ADHD academic support, and mental health interventions. She develops systems modeling user engagement, personality, and motivation, with extensive real-world deployments in schools, rehabilitation centers, and homes. Analysis of her recent publications reveals dominant themes in cognitive health robotics (2025 CHI paper on LLM-powered elder care), pediatric assistive technology (2025 IDC speech therapy review), and adaptive preference modeling (2025 HRI contrastive learning work). Her research consistently bridges machine learning with human-centered design for vulnerable populations. Major scientific recognition includes: ACM Athena Lecturer Award (2024) ACM Eugene L. Lawler Humanitarian Award (2024) ACM Fellow (2020) Presidential Mentoring Award (2011) Multiple society fellowships (AAAS, IEEE, AAAI) As a dedicated mentor, Matarić has championed underrepresented groups through CRA-W, placing numerous women in faculty positions. She leads USC Viterbi's K-12 STEM Outreach Program serving low-income Los Angeles schools and authored The Robotics Prime for student education. Her research has secured significant funding enabling real-world technology transfer, with documented impact in rehabilitation centers and homes through deployable SAR systems. Her Robotics Research Lab at USC drives innovation in embodied AI, with current projects spanning LLM-integrated elder care robots, ADHD academic companions, and autism therapy systems. The lab emphasizes co-design with end-users and rigorous real-world validation across diverse populations.
Tijana Gajić is a researcher at Singidunum University in Belgrade, Serbia. She holds a Ph.D. in Philology (2020), an MA in English Language and Literature (2009), and a BA in the same field (2007) from the University of Belgrade. Her work focuses on the intersection of language education, digital tools, and critical pedagogy. Doctoral Studies: Philology , University of Belgrade (2017-2020) Master Studies: English Language and Literature , University of Belgrade (2008-2009) Bachelor Studies: English Language and Literature , University of Belgrade (2003-2007) Dr. Gajić’s research explores the impact of digital technologies on language acquisition, critical thinking development, and the sociopolitical dimensions of English language learning. She has published extensively on mobile applications like Duolingo, HelloTalk, and WordUp, analyzing their efficacy in modern pedagogy. Her recent publications (2024-2025) examine digital tools’ influence on language education, critical pedagogy in Serbian classrooms, and AI-driven language learning innovations. Earlier works (2020-2016) established her expertise in tandem learning, vocabulary enhancement via apps, and affective factors in language acquisition. Notable collaborations include partnerships with researchers like N. Maenza , A. Gagić , and J. Nikolić . While no specific grants or awards are mentioned, her involvement in conferences such as Sinteza and ELTA Serbia underscores her active role in advancing language education. Her 2022 book, Nastava stranih jezika i razvoj kritičkog mišljenja u eri neoliberalizma , synthesizes her critical pedagogy framework. Current projects likely continue her focus on digital transformation in language teaching.
Tim Althoff is an Associate Professor at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, University of Washington, specializing in Artificial Intelligence and Human-Centered Computing. His research focuses on behavioral data science, combining Data Science Natural Language Processing Social Computing Human-Centered AI Ethics & Fairness to extract insights about health and well-being. Recent publications highlight advancements in: Mental health support through AI Wearable sensor health monitoring Online community analysis Reproducibility in data science Public health interventions with notable papers in ACL, Nature Machine Intelligence, and NeurIPS. Scientific recognition includes: ACL 2023 Outstanding Paper Award WWW 2021 Best Paper Award Double ICWSM 2021 Best Paper Awards SIGKDD Dissertation Award 2019 Fulbright Scholarship German National Merit Foundation Actively mentoring postdoctoral researchers and seeking PhD students in areas like neural representation learning, NLP applications to psychology, and mobile health technologies through his Behavioral Data Science Group .
Oscar Westlund serves as Professor at the Department of Journalism and Media Studies within the Faculty of Social Sciences at Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet), where he co-leads the OsloMet Digital Journalism Research Group. He maintains a secondary appointment at the University of Gothenburg and acts as Editor-in-Chief of Digital Journalism . His research spans digital journalism, fact-checking, platform dynamics, media management, news consumption, and mobile media. Westlund's scholarly focus centers on journalism safety in digital environments, sociotechnical dimensions of misinformation combat, and platform-induced challenges for news organizations. His work examines professional fragilities of journalists, epistemological foundations of data journalism, and legitimacy paradoxes in public service media-platform relationships. Current projects address disinformation countermeasures through the SCAM initiative (Source Criticism And Mediated Disinformation). Analysis of his 2022-2024 publications reveals dominant themes: journalism safety frameworks (33%), platform-journalism tensions (27%), and fact-checking as sociotechnical practice (23%). Key methodological approaches include cross-national comparative studies, epistemological analysis, and practice theory applied to digital news production. Westlund actively contributes to academic discourse through editorial leadership at Digital Journalism and special issue guest editing. His research group coordinates interdisciplinary collaboration on digital journalism studies, while the SCAM project develops practical methodologies for disinformation detection in democratic contexts. Recent work demonstrates increasing emphasis on mobile news ecosystems and journalist safety cultures. He co-leads the OsloMet Digital Journalism Research Group, which investigates platform impacts on news production, mobile journalism evolution, and epistemological shifts in data-driven reporting. The group maintains strong international partnerships, particularly with Swedish institutions through his University of Gothenburg affiliation.
Dr Kingsley Edney is an Associate Professor in International Relations of China at the University of Leeds' School of Politics and International Studies. He holds a PhD (International Relations) and MA (Political Science) from the University of Melbourne, along with a BA(Hons) in Politics and Anthropology from Victoria University of Wellington. Fluent in Chinese and with experience living in Shanghai and Beijing, his research focuses on China's non-material international security dynamics, including cultural diplomacy, propaganda, and ideological strategies to manage global information flows. His expertise includes Chinese soft power, the role of ideology in foreign policy, and the intersection of domestic political cohesion with international security objectives. He teaches undergraduate and master's courses on China's domestic and international politics. Current postgraduate researchers under his supervision are Jinru Huang, Yanyu Lu, and Hengfeng Zhao. Edney's research outputs span topics like public perceptions of China in the Anglosphere, Chinese youth nationalism, and environmental governance. His work often bridges theoretical frameworks with empirical analysis of China's evolving global engagement strategies. He maintains active academic engagement through platforms like Google Scholar and ORCID.
Maria Gorlatova is an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering, where she leads the Intelligent Interactive Internet of Things (I3T) Lab. She also holds a secondary affiliation as Faculty Network Member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences and has previously served as Assistant Professor of Computer Science. Dr. Gorlatova earned her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University (2013), following M.Sc. and B.Sc. (Summa Cum Laude) degrees in Electrical Engineering from University of Ottawa, Canada. Prior to joining Duke, she was an Associate Research Scholar in the Electrical Engineering Department and Associate Director of the Princeton EDGE Lab at Princeton University (2016-2018). She also has industry experience with Telcordia Technologies, IBM, and D. E. Shaw Research. Her research focuses on advancing intelligent behavior in Internet of Things systems and applications, particularly in mobile pervasive systems and the Internet of Things. Her work crosses traditional discipline boundaries, requiring thinking across multiple layers of system and protocol stacks. Current research themes include breaking barriers for technologies that enable fundamentally new deployments and experiences, such as energy harvesting, artificial intelligence adapted to IoT constraints, and augmented reality. Her lab specifically develops edge- and IoT-enabled intelligent augmented reality platforms, with applications in healthcare and human-robot collaboration. Analyzing her recent publications reveals a strong focus on augmented reality systems, particularly for medical applications. Her work spans computer vision for AR, spatial tracking, SLAM systems, vision-language models for AR security, and VR/AR applications in neurosurgery and rehabilitation. A significant portion of her recent work addresses challenges in mixed reality for medical procedures, demonstrating the translational impact of her research. Google Anita Borg USA Fellowship Canadian Graduate Scholar CGS NSERC Fellowships Columbia University Presidential Fellowship Columbia University Jury Award for Outstanding Achievement in Communications ACM SenSys Best Student Demonstration Award IEEE Communications Society Young Author Best Paper Award IEEE Communications Society Award for Advances in Communications Best Research Artifact Award, IEEE IPSN (2020) N2 Women Rising Star, Networking Networking Women (N2Women) (2019) Dr. Gorlatova's research has been supported by various funding sources that enable her work on edge computing for augmented reality, IoT systems, and medical applications. She actively mentors graduate students who frequently appear as first authors on her publications, indicating strong student involvement in her research. Her I3T Lab at Duke focuses on creating human-facing pervasive mobile computing platforms that enable transformative applications, with recent emphasis on creating advanced augmented reality platforms that integrate edge computing and IoT technologies. The I3T Lab is developing next-generation AR systems with capabilities in edge AI, collaborative spatial awareness, AR user cognitive context sensing, and AR QoS/QoE evaluation. Current projects include applications in healthcare (particularly neurosurgery guidance and rehabilitation) and human-robot collaboration scenarios, demonstrating the lab's focus on real-world impact of pervasive computing technologies.
Oliver Kroemer is an Associate Professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute (RI), affiliated with the Intelligent Autonomous Manipulation (IAM) Lab. His research focuses on enabling robots to learn versatile manipulation skills through lifelong frameworks, with applications in elder care, environmental maintenance, and hazardous operations. Developed methods for robot learning via physical interaction and reinforcement learning Created representations for contact states and motor primitives to improve skill generalization Research Interests: Spanning robot learning, tactile sensing, force-velocity control, and lifelong skill acquisition. Projects include Agile and Dynamic Interactions for Mobile Manipulation and Integrated Planning and Learning (Pillar project). Scientific Awards: Finalist, Georges Giralt Ph.D. Award (2015) Education: Masters & Bachelors in Engineering, University of Cambridge (2008) Ph.D., Technische Universitaet Darmstadt (2014) Students & Affiliates: Current PhD: Mark Lee, Sarvesh Patil, Saumya Saxena, Yunus Seker, Zilin Si Past PhD: Alex LaGrassa, Tabitha Lee, Qiao Liang, Shivam Vats, Kevin Zhang
Shauna Brail is Professor and Director at the Institute for Management & Innovation, University of Toronto Mississauga, with cross-appointments at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy. As an economic geographer and urban planner, her research examines urban transformation through economic, social, and technological change, particularly focusing on platform economy impacts, mobility innovation, and governance shifts in 21st-century cities. Education: PhD in Geography (University of Toronto), MA in Urban Planning (University of British Columbia), BA in Urban Studies/Geography (University of Toronto). Leadership Roles: Former Associate Director of Mobility Network, Director of Urban Studies Program, Associate Director of Partnerships & Outreach at School of Cities, and Interim Director of Master of Urban Innovation. Her work appears in top journals across geography, urban planning, and urban studies . Recent publications analyze pandemic impacts on cities, platform economy regulation, public housing finance models, and autonomous vehicle governance. She advises governments and civic organizations on housing, transportation, and digital platform policy while serving on editorial boards for Applied Geography , Progress in Economic Geography , and Canadian Geographies . Academic partnerships include collaborations with researchers like Tara Vinodrai, Ben Donald, and international scholars. Her current projects examine post-pandemic urban recovery, mobility-as-a-service business models, and equitable transportation technology implementation across Canadian cities.
Cecilie Schou Andreassen is a Professor at the Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Bergen . She specializes in behavioral addictions , including workaholism, social media addiction, and substance use interactions. Email: cecilie.andreassen@uib.no Visitor Address: Alrek Health Cluster, Årstadveien 17, 5009 Bergen Research Focus: Andreassen's work examines the psychosocial antecedents of addictive behaviors, with emphasis on personality traits , workplace dynamics , and digital platform interactions . Her research spans cross-cultural validation studies and longitudinal health outcomes related to technology and substance misuse. Article Trends (2017-2022): Analyzing 15 recent publications reveals a consistent focus on addiction scale validation , social media epidemiology , and workaholism's health impacts . Key themes include measurement invariance , digital-chemical addiction comorbidity , and psychological withdrawal mechanisms . Scientific Contributions: Co-developer of Bergen Work Addiction Scale Creator of Bergen-Yale Sex Addiction Scale Leadership in behavioral addiction epidemiology Recipient of Norwegian Research Council grants Advising & Collaborations: While no direct advisees are listed, Andreassen collaborates extensively with international researchers in work psychology , social media studies , and public health . Her work involves partnerships with Nottingham Trent University , Yale University , and National Competence Service for Sleep Disorders . Labs & Teams: Affiliated with the Department of Clinical Psychology and previously with the Department of Social Psychology at University of Bergen, she contributes to national health registry studies and cross-occupational research on addiction patterns.
Jeannette Bohg is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, directing the Interactive Perception and Robot Learning Lab. Previously, she was a group leader at the Autonomous Motion Department (AMD) of the MPI for Intelligent Systems (2012-2017). She holds a PhD from KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm) and degrees from Chalmers University and TU Dresden. Her research focuses on perception, learning, and real-time multi-modal methods for autonomous robotic manipulation and grasping, aiming to bridge principles of human sensorimotor coordination with robotic implementation. Education: PhD in Robotics (KTH), MSc in Art & Technology (Chalmers), Diploma in Computer Science (TU Dresden) Research interests include developing goal-directed, real-time robotic systems capable of meaningful feedback for execution and learning. Key areas are dexterous manipulation, imitation learning, and cross-embodiment policy transfer. Notable contributions include the TidyBot platform and work on force-aware surgical robotics. Awards include the 2019 IEEE ICRA Best Paper Award, 2019 IEEE RA Early Career Award, and 2020 RSS Early Career Award. Her lab explores intersections of robotics, ML, and computer vision. Advising: Actively mentoring students/postdocs in manipulation, perception, and learning. Grants and collaborations span NSF, Stanford AI Lab, and industry partnerships. Future work emphasizes robust real-world deployment and human-robot collaboration. Labs/Teams: Leads the Interactive Perception and Robot Learning Lab, contributing to Stanford’s AI ecosystem. Previously managed the MPI AMD group, fostering interdisciplinary research in autonomous systems.
Rafael Grohmann is an Assistant Professor of Media Studies at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC), with a graduate cross-appointment at the Faculty of Information (iSchool). He leads the DigiLabour Initiative and is a researcher with Fairwork, focusing on Critical Platform and Data Studies. His research emphasizes platform labour, the platformization of work, and resistance strategies among workers in Latin America. Grohmann holds a PhD in Communication from the University of São Paulo and has held prior academic positions at institutions in Brazil, including Unisinos University. His research interests span platform cooperativism, public policies for technology and labor, AI's impact on work, and data-driven labour practices. He is an editorial board member for Big Data & Society and Work, Employment and Society , and contributes to UCLA’s Center for Critical Internet Inquiry (C2i2). His work examines intersections of technology, labour precarity, and solidarity economies, with a focus on global South contexts. Recent publications analyze click farm labour in Brazil, gender dynamics in platform cooperatives, and global-local trends in platform worker organizing. Grohmann’s work bridges critical theory with action research, advocating for fair work standards in digital economies. He participates in initiatives like the Platform Cooperativism Consortium and the Labor Tech Research Network.
Kaiyu Hang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Rice University, where he directs the Robotics and Physical Interactions Lab (RobotΠ Lab). His research spans multiple domains of robotics with a focus on physical interaction systems. Before joining Rice, he completed his postdoc at Yale University, earned his Ph.D./M.Sc. at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and received his B.Eng. from Xi'an Jiaotong University. His research interests include robotic manipulation, grasping, in-hand manipulation, optimization, planning, learning, estimation, and control systems. He develops algorithms that enable robots to physically interact with other robots, people, and the world across scales from small grasping tasks to large-scale dual-arm and multi-robot manipulation systems. His work has practical applications in factories, kitchens, hospitals, warehouses, and construction sites. His recent publications demonstrate strong trends in in-hand manipulation techniques, energy-efficient drone operations, and benchmarking frameworks for robotic grasping. The 2025 IROS papers accepted highlight his leadership in developing standardized competition frameworks for evaluating robotic manipulation capabilities across diverse hardware platforms. ASME Rising Star of Mechanical Engineering (2024) NSF CAREER Award (2023) Multiple finalist awards at IEEE-RAS Humanoids and ICRA conferences Junior Fellowship Award from Institute for Advanced Study, HKUST (2017-2018) As an educator, he has taught multiple robotics courses including COMP 462/562: Introduction to Modern Robotics and COMP 461: Senior Design in A Robotized World. He serves as Faculty Advisor for the Rice Robotics Club and participates in graduate admissions. His lab actively recruits Ph.D. students and offers research opportunities for undergraduate and master's students who have completed core robotics courses.
