I am interested in building interpretable models of complex systems using tools from machine learning and physics. Currently, I work with the Hampton Roads Biomedical Research Consortium and the new ODU-JLab Joint Institute to study environmental impacts on health outcomes in coastal Virginia. Our goal is to improve health disparities by combining domain expertise, community knowledge, and leveraging machine learning to link and understand diverse multi-modal datasets. Past efforts have lived at the intersection of soft materials and biology with topics ranging from liquid crystals to cells to developing fruit fly embryos.

If you are interested in collaborating, or have thoughts about machine learning in health, biology or physics, please reach out!

Recent Highlights

• Sep 3, 2024 - Our work on interpreting neural operators was featured in Physics Magazine! Had a great time collaborating with friends Alexis Poncet and Denis Bartolo at ENS Lyon as well as Vincenzo Vitelli. Check out the paper here!


• Jun 4, 2024 - Our predictive algorithm for radiation-induced immune suppression was published in Medical Physics. Many thanks to Cam Nguyen, Krishni Wijesooriya, and the UVA Department of Radiation Oncology for their work on this project. More to come soon!


• May 9, 2024 - We've kicked off the HRBRC Seminar Series! In these monthly talks, we hope to highlight the cool work happening at HRBRC and build new collaborations within ODU and the Hampton Roads area. Please reach out if you're interested in joining!


• Jan 18, 2024 - Excited to announce that our project using machine learning to build models of cell mechanics has been published as a theory article in Cell. This is the product of a three-year collaboration with Matthew Schmitt, Vincenzo Vitelli, the Oakes Lab at Loyola Chicago, and the Gardel Lab at UChicago. Congrats to all involved!


• Dec 31, 2023 - Closing a busy December with two new preprints! The first is a collaboration with the Streichan Lab at UC Santa Barbara, using continuum theory, ML, and biological experiments to investigate morphogenesis in Drosophila and human stem cell organoids. The second is a project led by Danny Seara at UChicago, where we investigate models of social behavior with applications to US Census data.


• Nov 10, 2023 - Officially started a new position: Research Assistant Professor at Old Dominion University!


• Oct 24, 2023 - Successfully defended my PhD thesis at the University of Chicago! Many thanks to my advisor, Vincenzo Vitelli, my coworkers at the James Franck Institute, and my friends and family for all their help and support.