Sanjay Purushotham is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Information Systems at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), with a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California (USC) and a postdoctoral background in Computer Science at USC's Integrated Media Systems Center (IMSC). His research focuses on machine learning, data mining, and their applications in biomedical informatics, social network analysis, and multimedia data mining. Key contributions include survival analysis models using pseudo values and federated learning frameworks for healthcare data. He has received awards including the Best Paper Award at SIGSPATIAL 2014 and a Best Poster Runnerup at SCMLS 2016. Education: PhD in Electrical Engineering (USC), Postdoc in Computer Science (USC) His work spans interdisciplinary areas such as domain adaptation for remote sensing, thermal face translation, and interpretable neural networks for medical applications. Recent projects include federated survival analysis models and climate-informatics frameworks for cloud property retrieval. He teaches courses in artificial intelligence, healthcare informatics, and statistical learning at UMBC. Research highlights include developing MedFuseNet for multimodal medical question answering and VDAM for multi-sensor cloud data analysis. His work on fair survival analysis models addresses algorithmic bias in healthcare predictions. Current grants include a NSF CAREER award for trustworthy federated learning in computational healthcare.
Richard J. Cook is a University Professor and Mathematics Faculty Research Chair in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science at the University of Waterloo. He holds cross-appointments at the School of Public Health and Health Systems at the University of Waterloo and the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University. Previously, he held a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Statistical Methods for Health Research from 2005 to 2019. His educational background includes: BSc in Statistics from McMaster University MMath in Mathematics from University of Waterloo PhD in Statistics from University of Waterloo Professor Cook's research focuses on developing and applying statistical methods for public health research. His primary areas of interest include the analysis of life history data, longitudinal data analysis, methods for incomplete data, clinical trial design, and multivariate analysis. His work provides critical methodological frameworks for understanding disease progression and evaluating interventions in complex health settings. He has made significant contributions to the development of multistate models for disease processes and methods for handling interval-censored data. His extensive publication record demonstrates consistent focus on methodological innovations addressing real-world health research challenges. Recent work emphasizes estimand specification in clinical trials, transportability of research findings, and causal inference methods. His research bridges theoretical statistics with practical applications in autoimmune diseases, transfusion medicine, and public health. Professor Cook has received significant professional recognition: Tier I Canada Research Chair in Statistical Methods for Health Research (2005-2019) Mathematics Faculty Research Chair at University of Waterloo His students have earned prestigious awards including multiple Pierre-Robillard Awards, ISCB Student Conference Awards, and ENAR Distinguished Student Paper Awards, with notable achievements like Dr. Shu (Joy) Jiang being named in the Forbes Top 30 Under 30 North America (2023) for Healthcare. Professor Cook has advised numerous graduate students throughout his career, with many going on to successful academic and industry positions. His research has been supported by various grants, and he collaborates extensively with researchers in rheumatology, transfusion medicine, and public health through affiliations with the Centre for Prognosis Studies in Rheumatic Diseases, the International Psoriasis and Arthritis Research Team, and the McMaster Centre for Transfusion Research. He leads a vibrant research team that includes research associates, post-doctoral fellows, and graduate students working on cutting-edge statistical methodology. His research group maintains strong connections with multiple institutions and research centers focused on health outcomes and disease progression.
Karoline Faust is an Associate Professor at KU Leuven, affiliated with the Laboratory of Molecular Bacteriology (Rega Institute) and the Faculty of Medicine . She contributes to the iSi Health and Leuven One Health institutes, and serves on senior academic councils. Her research spans microbial systems biology, focusing on community dynamics and network analysis. Education: PhD in bioinformatics (2010, KU Leuven) Affiliations: KU Leuven, ISME Journal editorial board, Belgian Society for Microbiology Her research investigates microbial community dynamics , systems biology approaches to microbiomes, and bioinformatics tool development . She specializes in modeling human gut microbiota , synthetic microbial communities , and environmental microbiomes (e.g., microplastic impacts on Daphnia microbiomes). Her work integrates metabolic modeling , network analysis , and experimental systems to understand microbial interactions. Recent publications highlight her contributions to microbial network inference , 16S rRNA sequencing protocols , microfluidics , and ecological modeling of microbiomes. She develops tools like manta , miaSim , and CoNet to analyze community structures. Teaching: Karoline co-teaches courses in microbiology, bioinformatics, and network analysis at KU Leuven, and has contributed to international workshops on microbial network inference. Scientific Engagement: She serves as Senior Editor at ISME Journal and Secretary of the Belgian Society for Microbiology .
Professor Shaomin Wu is a faculty member at the University of Kent's Kent Business School, where he holds the academic rank of Professor of Business/Applied Statistics. He earned an MSc and PhD in applied statistics and has extensive industry experience, including a five-and-a-half-year stint at a global manufacturer in Shanghai before moving to the UK in 2001. He has held roles as a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer before joining Cranfield University and later the University of Kent. His research focuses on recurrent event data analysis, machine learning, and reliability mathematics, with funding from the EPSRC and ESRC. His research projects include managing risk in warranty servicing policies, smart data analytics for local government, and sustainable supply chain demand forecasting. He teaches modules such as risk analysis, reliability engineering, and machine learning. Currently supervising PhD students in time series forecasting, explainable AI, and recurrent event data analysis, he also serves as a co-chair of international conferences, editorial board member, and external examiner for doctoral degrees. Notably, he ranks among the top 2% of global scientists by Stanford University. His work integrates machine learning with business analytics, resilience engineering, and environmental sustainability. Key contributions include IoT-driven resilience methodologies for smart grids and unmanned systems, as well as frameworks for corporate carbon disclosure and maintenance optimization under uncertainty.
Dr. Yi-Ping Fang is an Assistant Professor at the EDF Chair SSEC with a joint appointment at the Industrial Engineering Laboratory, CentraleSupélec, Université Paris-Saclay, France. His research focuses on computational methods for risk, vulnerability, and resilience analysis of critical infrastructures including smart grids, electrified transportation, and interdependent lifeline systems. Risk Analysis Resilience Engineering Optimization Under Uncertainty Game Theory Applications His work applies advanced techniques like distributionally robust optimization, POMDP modeling, and interdependency analysis to enhance infrastructure resilience against climate change, natural hazards, and intentional attacks. Publications demonstrate expertise in hybrid optimization algorithms, stochastic modeling, and network vulnerability assessment. Recent trends include: Smart grid resilience enhancement Uncertainty quantification in infrastructure systems Multi-stage decision modeling Game-theoretic approaches for interdependent networks Integration of deep learning for dynamic system prediction
Philipp Koralus is the McCord Professor of Philosophy and AI at the University of Oxford and serves as Director of the Human-Centered AI Lab (HAI Lab) within the Institute for Ethics in AI. He is also a member of St Catherine's College. Koralus holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy and Neuroscience from Princeton University and a B.A. from Pomona College. His research focuses on the human capacity for reasoning and decision-making, exploring how these processes relate to artificial intelligence agents and large language models like GPT. He advocates for the Erotetic Theory of Reason (ETR), which posits that reason aims to resolve issues or questions directly, explaining both human rationality and fallibility. His work extends to moral judgment, definitions of intelligence, and interdisciplinary collaboration with computer scientists, psychologists, linguists, and neuroscientists. Koralus is preparing to launch the HAI Lab in Fall 2024, aiming to advance human-centered AI ethics and cognition research. His educational background includes advanced studies in philosophy and neuroscience, combining analytical rigor with empirical insights. Collaborations span diverse fields, including fisheries management through agent-based modeling and healthcare ethics in AI applications. He has published widely on topics such as attention mechanisms, visual perception, and the theoretical foundations of AI reasoning. Koralus regularly teaches graduate seminars on philosophy and AI, including upcoming sessions like 'Building the Philosophy to Code Pipeline' starting in 2025. He has supervised doctoral students in both philosophy and computer science but currently lists no specific advisees. His research has been recognized in symposia and commentary, though no formal scientific awards are explicitly mentioned.
Giovanni Petri is a Professor in the Network Science Institute at Northeastern University London, where he joined in June 2023. Previously, he held positions at CENTAI as a Principal Researcher and at IMT Lucca as a Guest Scholar, with earlier affiliations at ISI Foundation and Imperial College London. His educational background includes a PhD in Complex Networks from Imperial College London (2012), an MSc in Theoretical Physics from the University of Pisa (2008), and a BSc in Physics from the University of Pisa (2005). Petri's research spans the analysis of neuroimaging data and AI systems with topological techniques, the formalization of cognitive control models with tools of statistical mechanics and network theory, and the study of the predictability of socio-technical systems. His work in Topological Neuroscience explores brain architecture using algebraic topology, while his research in Cognitive Neuroscience focuses on neural mechanisms underlying human cognition. He is particularly known for his work on higher-order networks, using mathematical frameworks like hypergraphs and simplicial complexes to model systems with multi-way interactions. His recent publications (2023-2025) demonstrate a strong focus on higher-order network theory applied to neuroscience, with particular emphasis on topological approaches to brain connectivity, social contagion models, and the physics of complex systems. These works reveal consistent themes in understanding how multi-body interactions shape system dynamics across biological, social, and technological domains. European Research Council Consolidator Grant (RUNES: Reconstruction and unification of neural and ecological systems, 2024) As Principal Investigator of the NPLab, Petri advises numerous PhD and postdoctoral researchers including Marilyn Gatica, Andrea Santoro, and Simone Poetto. His RUNES project, funded by the ERC Consolidator Grant, represents a significant research initiative. The lab maintains active collaborations with CENTAI, Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative), and various international institutions. The NPLab investigates the role of topology and geometry in the collective dynamics of complex systems, ranging from neuroscience to society, using statistical mechanics, algebraic topology, and innovative computational approaches. Current projects include Topological Neuroscience, Cognitive Neuroscience, Higher-order Networks, Project CETI, and RUNES.
Peter D. Ditlevsen is a Professor at the Niels Bohr Institute , University of Copenhagen, specializing in Physics of Ice, Climate and Earth (PICE) . With a background in theoretical physics, he transitioned to climate dynamics and turbulence. Dr. Scient (2004), University of Copenhagen PhD (1991), Technical University of Denmark Research Interests : Focuses on Tipping Points in the Earth System , especially AMOC collapse , using stochastic dynamical systems , alpha-stable processes , and nonlinear climate modeling . His work bridges climate physics , dynamical meteorology , and time series analysis . Recent Publications : 2025 work on ice-core-based Dansgaard–Oeschger event modeling , 2024 studies on AMOC multistability and complex system predictability , and 2023 Nature Communications paper on AMOC collapse early warning (cited 4000+ times in media). Scientific Leadership : Leads CriticalEarth H2020 (2021-24) and contributed to TiPES (2019-23). Holds Carlsberg Fellowship and Ole Rømer Prize . Outreach : Produces weekly climate science podcast with David Trads, delivers 4-6 public lectures/year, and has appeared in 40+ media outlets. Teaches Electrodynamics , Thermodynamics , and Turbulence courses.
Professor Tomasz Kapitaniak is a distinguished academic in the field of nonlinear dynamics and theoretical mechanics. He serves as a Professor of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics and Head of the Division of Dynamics at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Lodz, Poland. His career spans over three decades at the university, where he has made significant contributions to the understanding of nonlinear systems, chaos theory, and mechanical oscillations. Professor Kapitaniak holds advanced degrees in both mechanics and applied mathematics from the Technical University of Lodz and the University of Lodz. His educational background includes: M.Sc. in mechanics, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Lodz (1982) M.Sc. in applied mathematics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, University of Lodz (1985) Ph.D. in mechanics, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Lodz (1985) D.Sc. in mechanics, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Lodz (1988) Professor of technical science, title given by the President of Poland (1995) His research focuses on nonlinear dynamics, with particular emphasis on mechanical oscillations, stability, bifurcations and chaos, stochastic dynamics, and applications of nonlinear dynamics in mechanical engineering. Professor Kapitaniak is renowned for his work on the development of methods for controlling chaos without feedback, identification of new types of bifurcations, synchronization mechanisms in coupled mechanical oscillators, and explaining the origin of randomness in mechanical systems. His research has evolved from fundamental theoretical work to increasingly applied studies involving complex networks, biological systems, and engineering applications. Professor Kapitaniak has published over 300 scientific papers in renowned journals, cited over 8,000 times. His work exhibits a consistent focus on understanding complex nonlinear phenomena across various physical systems. The trend in his recent publications shows continued exploration of synchronization phenomena, extreme events in dynamical systems, and applications of nonlinear dynamics to biological, mechanical, and physical systems. His most recent work demonstrates a growing interest in multistability, chimera states, and the prediction of tipping phenomena in complex systems. Among his notable scientific achievements and distinctions are: Election as a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences (corresponding member in 2013, ordinary member in 2019) Election to Academia Europaea in 2021 Honorary doctorates from Saratov State University (Russia, 2001) and Lublin University of Technology (Poland, 2014) Multiple prestigious fellowships including the British Council Fellowship (1989), King Abdul Aziz Award Fellowship (1990), and Fulbright Fellowship (1997) Editorial roles including Associate editor of Chaos, Solitons and Fractals since 1990 and member of editorial boards of several other prestigious journals Throughout his career, Professor Kapitaniak has been actively involved in mentoring the next generation of researchers, having supervised numerous PhD students including Jerzy Wojewoda, Anton van Wyk, Barbara Błażejczyk-Okolewska, Andrzej Stefański, Andrzej Kozłowski, and Przemysław Szumiński. He has secured significant research funding from various national and international sources including the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (Poland), Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, The Royal Society of London, and others. His research team has maintained strong international collaborations with institutions worldwide, including universities in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, Russia, and Ukraine. He leads the Division of Dynamics at the Technical University of Lodz, which serves as a hub for research in nonlinear dynamics, mechanical oscillations, and related fields. The division maintains strong international collaborations with institutions worldwide and continues to produce cutting-edge research in the field of nonlinear dynamics and its applications.
Gomez Melis, Guadalupe is a Professor at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), affiliated with the GRBIO research group (Bioestadística i Bioinformàtica) and the Department of Statistics and Operations Research. She collaborates with the Institut de Recerca i Innovació en Salut (Health Research Institute) and the Faculty of Mathematics and Statistics (FME). Her work focuses on biostatistics, survival analysis, multistate models, and clinical trial design, with significant contributions to understanding disease progression and outcomes, particularly in pandemic-related studies. She has supervised doctoral theses and leads various research projects funded by EU and national grants. Her research spans statistical methodologies for healthcare data, including censored data analysis and adaptive clinical trial designs. Key activities include leading over 450 research outputs, including articles in high-impact journals like Biostatistics and BMC Medical Research Methodology , and collaborations on projects like the EU-funded Siemens Energy AI Chair initiative. Her work often integrates statistical modeling with real-world health data, addressing challenges in infectious disease dynamics, elderly patient care, and genomic analysis. Notable contributions include developing the GofCens package for goodness-of-fit methods and the MSMpred interactive tool for predicting patient trajectories via multistate models. She actively participates in international conferences and serves on scientific committees, demonstrating her role in advancing biostatistical methodologies globally.
Corrado Maurini is a Professor in Mechanics at Sorbonne University , Paris, France. He leads two international master programs: Mécanique des Solides (Solid Mechanics) and Computational Mechanics .
Meritxell Sáez Cornellana serves as a Contracted Professor of Ph.D in the Department of Mathematics and Data Analytics at IQS School of Engineering, part of Universitat Ramon Llull in Barcelona, Spain. She leads the ADAMIQS (Applied Data Analytics and Modelling IQS) research group funded by AGAUR, and participates in multiple interdisciplinary projects including CERTERA (advanced therapies development), NFT value drivers research, and international collaborations with China on sustainable development in population medicine. Her research focuses on applying mathematical modeling to biological systems, particularly in understanding cell fate decisions through dynamical landscapes and chemical reaction networks. She has developed geometrical frameworks for analyzing gene regulatory dynamics and cell differentiation processes, bridging mathematical theory with biological applications. Her work spans mathematical biology, dynamical systems theory, and data analytics, with particular expertise in bifurcation analysis, model reduction techniques, and statistical approaches to biological decision-making. Analysis of her publication record reveals a clear trajectory from foundational mathematical work in algebraic geometry toward increasingly biological applications, with a significant shift around 2016 toward systems biology. Her most impactful work involves creating geometrical landscapes that capture decision-making dynamics during cell fate transitions, which has been cited over 60 times. Recent publications show expansion into statistical approaches for university education and continued development of mathematical frameworks for understanding biological networks. Research leadership and funding: Principal Investigator for ADAMIQS project (Applied Data Analytics and Modelling IQS) funded by AGAUR (2022-2025) Researcher in CERTERA consortium for advanced therapies development (Carlos III Health Institute, 2024-2026) Researcher in NFT value drivers project (Fundación Ramón Areces, 2023-2026) Researcher in PoPMeD-SuSDeV project on sustainable development and global health (2023-2026) Researcher in 2IDLATRL project on learning analytics tools (2022-2023) Professor Sáez Cornellana directs the Applied Data Analytics and Modeling research line at IQS, supervising multiple research projects that integrate mathematical theory with practical applications in biology and education. Her team collaborates across disciplines, connecting mathematical modeling with biological experimentation and educational innovation, creating a unique interdisciplinary research environment focused on extracting meaningful insights from complex data systems.
Sheng Sang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Sciences at Bethany Lutheran College. His research lies at the intersection of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, with a strong emphasis on machine learning applications in composite materials and elastic metamaterials. His research interests include: Mechanical & Biomedical Engineering Machine Learning on Composites Elastic Metamaterials and Composites Optimization of Medical Devices Finite Element Modeling and Simulation Dr. Sang's recent publications demonstrate a consistent focus on integrating deep learning techniques with mechanical systems, particularly in predicting composite microstructures, tracking particles in complex systems, and optimizing wave propagation in metamaterials. His work frequently employs 3D CNNs and other neural architectures to solve inverse problems in material science. Scientific awards and recognition include: Dr. Lehtola Fellowship Research Grant ($9,000, PI), 2021–2023 Graco Engineering Lab Development Grant ($60,000), 2020–2022 He has been actively involved in teaching a wide range of engineering courses such as Fluid Mechanics, Solid Mechanics, Thermodynamics, and Computer-Aided Design. His research is supported by external grants, indicating active supervision and project leadership. Dr. Sang has collaborated with researchers across disciplines, including neuroscience and medical imaging, particularly in studies involving deep brain stimulation and fMRI. He is affiliated with research teams working on: Active elastic metamaterials design Machine learning for material characterization Optimization of biomedical devices using swarm intelligence Development of advanced simulation tools for composite systems
Yang Shen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University, affiliated with the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and the Institute of Biosciences and Technology. He holds a B.E. in Automation from the University of Science and Technology of China (2002) and a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from Boston University (2008). His research focuses on algorithms for modeling biological molecules, systems, and data, with applications in protein docking, drug design, systems biology, and omics. He has received prestigious awards such as the NSF CAREER Award (2020) and MIRA Award (2017). His work integrates machine learning, optimization, and graph theory to address challenges in computational biology. Notable contributions include generative AI for protein design, interpretable models for compound-protein affinity prediction, and Bayesian active learning for protein docking. Shen has advised numerous students, including Yuning You, Mostafa Karimi, and Arghamitra Talukder, who have received awards like the Chevron Scholarship and NSF Graduate Fellowships. His lab actively collaborates on projects in drug discovery, synthetic biology, and precision medicine. Shen has led funded projects totaling over $3.5 million from NIH and NSF, exploring topics like molecular mechanisms of cancer mutations and AI-driven drug design. He serves on editorial boards for journals like the Journal of Biological Systems and has organized workshops such as the International Workshop on Biomedical Informatics with Optimization and Machine Learning (BOOM). His research bridges computational methods and biological systems, advancing both theory and practical applications in healthcare and biotechnology.
Dr. Jamie Tam is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH). She holds appointments in Cancer Prevention and Control and is a co-investigator with the Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network (CISNET) consortium and the Center for the Assessment of Tobacco Regulations (CAsToR), both NCI-funded. Her work focuses on simulation modeling to evaluate tobacco policy impacts on health disparities, particularly among populations with behavioral health conditions. Tam has developed a web-based tool to assess tobacco control policies' health effects and co-leads studies on flavor restrictions' implications for equity. Education: PhD in Health Services Organization & Policy, University of Michigan (2018) MPH in Health Management & Policy, University of Michigan (2012) BS in Biology, Stanford University (2010) Research Interests: Dr. Tam’s research bridges computational simulation, policy analysis, and behavioral health. She examines the intersection of smoking behaviors and mental health (e.g., depression, anxiety) to design equitable tobacco regulations. Her methods include multistate transition models, latent transition analysis, and age-period-cohort modeling to predict population health outcomes. She emphasizes graphical health warnings and flavor bans as critical policy levers to reduce smoking-related deaths and disparities. Advising & Grants: Tam mentors postdoctoral researchers (e.g., Alyssa Crippen) and graduate students (e.g., Atalay Demiray). She leads NCI-funded studies on tobacco regulations and collaborates with institutions like the FDA. Her work also involves co-developing the Smoking and Vaping Model, a user-friendly tool for global health policymakers. Labs/Teams: She is affiliated with YSPH’s Public Health Modeling Unit and collaborates with CISNET, CAsToR, and other interdisciplinary teams. Her research frequently involves co-authors like Theodore Holford, Abigail Friedman, and Rafael Meza.
