Past Fellows



Congratulations to our past CCS Fellows for successful completion of the program (alphabetical by last name):

Jeo Jin Amy Ahn 2018-2019 CCS Fellow

Yeo Jin “Amy” Ahn (2018-2019)

Project  Automating and Accelerating the Autism Diagnostic Process

Mentors
Mitsunori Ogihara, PhD | Dept. of Computer Science and CCS
Daniel S. Messinger, PhD  |  Professor of Psychology

Amy is a PhD student in Psychology. She graduated with honors from Cornell University with a B.S. in Human Development and a concentration in Social and Personality Development. She joined the Early Play and Development Lab in fall of 2017. She is interested in infants’ and young children’s social interaction and how it relates to typical and atypical social and emotional development. She aims to better understand children’s social behaviors by implementing objective measurement.

Steven Anderson 2018-2019 CCS Fellow

Steven Anderson (2018-2019)

Project  Virtual Reality Simulations of Dyadic Medical Interactions

Mentors
Mitsunori Ogihara, PhD | Dept. of Computer Science and CCS
Elizabeth Reynolds Losin, PhD  |  Department of Psychology – Health Division

Steven is a PhD student working under the supervision of Dr. Elizabeth Losin in the Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience Division in the Department of Psychology. He received his Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Psychology from Harvard University Extension School. Prior to joining the Social and Cultural Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of Miami, Steven worked on developing behavioral health interventions for patients with chronic medical conditions at a healthcare technology company. His doctoral research centers on identifying sociocultural and contextual influences on pain perception in the self and others, with an applied focus on medical settings and the doctor-patient relationship. His research utilizes behavioral, neuroimaging, psychophysiological, and computational methods.

Zach Brooks 2013-14 Center for Computational Science Fellow

Zachary Brooks (2013-2014)

Project:  Big Data Analysis Methods in Climate Modeling

Mentors:
Ben Kirtman, PhD | Department of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography
Eric Rozier, PhD | Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Undergraduate CCS Fellow and FooteFellow  |  Double Major in Marine Science/Computer Science (minor in Math)

Jin Yop Stephano Chang 2018-2019 CCS Fellow

Jin Yop “Stephano” Chang (2018-2019)

Project  Development of Closed-Loop Neuromodulation of Gait and Balance Control After Spinal Cord Injury

Mentors
Brian R. Noga, PhD and James D. Guest, MD PhD FACS FRCS (C) | The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis
Odelia Schwartz, PhD  |  Department of Computer Science

Stephano is a Neurosurgery resident pursuing his PhD in Neuroscience with Dr. Brian Noga and Dr. James Guest at the University of Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, combining his clinical background with his scientific interest in neuromodulation for spinal cord injury. During the CCS Fellows program, he hopes to apply a computational approach to optimize the application of neurostimulation technologies to restore function after injury.

Katherine Dale

Katherine Dale (2014-2015)

Project:  Big Data Analysis in Marine Genomics

Mentors:
Doug Crawford, PhD | RSMAS
Geoff Sutcliffe, PhD | Department of Computer Science

Foote Fellow  |  Marine Science | Biology | Computer Science

Han Jing Dai 2017-2018 CCS Fellow

Hanjing Dai (2017-2018)

Project:  Image Rectification for Polarimetric Slope Sensing Data

Mentors:
Brian Haus, PhD| Department of Ocean Sciences
Shahriar Negahdaripour, PhD | Electrical & Computer Engineering

Hanjing is a first-year Ph.D student working under the supervision of Dr. Brian Haus at the Division of Applied Marine Physics, University of Miami. She received her M.Sc. in Civil and Environmental Engineering in 2015 from HKUST. Her research interests focus on both fluid dynamics and morphology in coastal regions, by using laboratory and mathematical models she hopes to investigate the realistic evolution of the coastal environment. Hanjing does research in Civil Engineering, Ocean Engineering, and Remote Sensing.

Matt Danzi University of Miami Center for Computational Science CCS Fellow 2015-16

Matt Danzi (2015-2016)

Project:Identifying the Regulators in RNA-Seq Data

Mentors:
Stephan Schuerer, PhD  |  Interim Program Director, CCS Drug Discovery Program
Stefan Wuchty, PhD  |  Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science

3rd Year PhD Candidate, Lembix Lab | The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis  |  Dept. of Neurological Surgery

Philip Davidson University of Miami Center for Computational Science CCS Fellow 2015-16

Phillip L. Davidson (2015-2016)

Project:Comparative RNA-seq Analysis during Embryogenesis” (two development stages of the ctenophore)

Mentors:
Gary Beecham, PhD |  Director, Division of Research Informatics in the Center for Genetic Epidemiology and Statistical Genetics, John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics
William Browne, PhD |  Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences

Senior, Biology Major

Michael Durante CCS Fellow 2016-2017

Michael Durante (2016-2017)

Project:  Michael’s project “Epigenomic Profiling of Uveal Melanoma” will focus on utilizing next-generation sequencing techniques to understanding the epigenetic mechanisms of uveal melanoma tumorigenesis. Uveal melanoma is the most common primary adult cancer of the eye, which manifests as aggressive tumors (pictured at right). Most uveal melanoma tumors have one of three driver mutations (BAP1, SF3B1, EIF1AX), as well as distinct copy-number profiles. Michael will use techniques that look at histone modifications and chromatin accessibility to study how the driver mutations change the epigenetic landscape of uveal melanoma. The large-scale datasets that are generated with these techniques will be analyzed using the Center for Computational Science’s Pegasus supercomputer.

Michael’s CCS Fellowship will help him use advanced mathematical modeling and novel computational algorithms to analyze these next-generation sequencing datasets.

Mentors:
J. William Harbour, MD|  Bascom Palmer Eye Institute
Stephan Schürer, PhD | CCS Drug Discovery Program

 

Michael Fernandez CCS Fellow 2016-2017

Michael Fernandez (2016-2017)

Project: 3D Vortex Visualization

Mentors:
Gecheng Zha, PhD | Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Mahsa Mirzargar, PhD  | Computer Science

Matthew Field

Matthew Field (2014-2015)

Project: Retinoblastoma Genomics Analysis for Variant Discovery

Mentors:
J. William Harbour, MD|  Bascom Palmer Eye Institute
Nick Tsinoremas, PhD | CCS Center Director

Cancer Biology Program  |  Miller School of Medicine

lyssa-goldberg-center-for-computational-science-2015-ccs-fellow-250x250

Lyssa Goldberg (2014-2015)

Project: Media Coverage Biases in Reporting on the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict

Mentors:
Joseph Uscinski, PhD | Dept. of Political Science
Mitsunori Ogihara, PhD | Dept. of Computer Science and CCS
Alberto Cairo, PhD | Knight Chair in Visual Journalism at the School of Communication and CCS Visualization Program Director

Foote Fellow  |  Journalism | Political Science | Computer Science

Matt Grossi 2017-2018 CCS Fellow

Matt Grossi (2017-2018)

Project:  Predicting Ocean Dispersion Using Neural Networks>/strong>

Mentors:
Tamay Özgökmen, PhD |  Department of Ocean Sciences
Miroslav Kubat, PhD | Electrical & Computer Engineering

Matt Grossi is a PhD student in Meteorology and Physical Oceanography at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS). He is working with Dr. Tamay Özgökmen and the Consortium for Advanced Research on Transport of Hydrocarbon in the Environment (CARTHE) towards understanding and predicting how spilled oil gets transported in the ocean using field observations, hydrodynamic models, and, as a CCS Fellow, neural networks. Matt holds a B.S. in Physical Oceanography with a minor in Meteorology from Florida Institute of Technology and a M.S. in Oceanography from the University of Delaware. Before coming to the University of Miami, he worked in the Ocean Observation Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) where he oversaw underwater glider operations and maintained a regional network of high-frequency (HF) radar sites for monitoring coastal ocean surface currents in near real time.

Zhi Liu 2013-14 Center for Computational Science Fellow

Zhi Liu (2013-2014)

Project:  Gene Network Organization in Disease

Mentors:
Gary Beecham, PhD | Dr. John T. Foundation Dept. of Human Genetics
Xiaodong Cai, PhD | Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Graduate CCS Fellow

Joseph Masterjohn 2013-14 Center for Computational Science Fellow

Joseph Masterjohn (2013-2014)

 

Project: Elucidating Novel Genetic Interactions in Yeast

Mentors:
Stefan Wuchty, PhD | Dept. of Computer Science
Gennaro D’Urso, PhD | Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology

Undergraduate CCS Fellow  |  Double Major in Computer Science/ Math

Thomas McCauley 2017-2018 CCS Fellow

Thomas McCauley (2017-2018)

Project  Properties of Network Models in Social Psychology

Mentors:
Michael McCullough, PhD | Department of Psychology
Kamal Premaratne, PhD | Electrical & Computer Engineering

Thomas graduated with a B.S. in psychology from the University of Delaware in 2014, and an M.A. in experimental psychology from the College of William & Mary in 2017.  He joined the EHB lab in fall of 2017, with the aim of pursuing questions pertaining to the evolved psychological mechanisms underlying cooperation, punishment, emotion, and morality. His goal is to understand how these mechanisms interact with enduring ecological features by identifying points of variance and invariance in their function across diverse societies. He’s also interested in statistics, experimental methodology, reproducibility in psychological science, and meta-science.

Samantha Mitsven 2018-2019 CCS Fellow

Samantha Mitsven (2018-2019)

Project  Objective Measurement of Language Development: An Investigation of Preschoolers’ Networked Social Interactions

Mentors
TBA
Daniel S. Messinger, PhD  |  Professor of Psychology

Samantha received her B.A. in Psychology from San Diego State University in 2013 and worked as a Research Assistant and Lab Manager in cognitive and neuroimaging labs at UC Davis and Stanford University following graduation. She is currently a second year PhD student in Developmental Psychology working under the supervision of Daniel Messinger. In her work, Samantha utilizes objective, continuous measurements of children’s movement and vocalizations within preschool classrooms to understand the mechanisms by which social interactions with teachers and peers promote language development. As a CCS fellow, she hopes to further examine how peer social networks shape, and are shaped by, developing language capacities and how language is transmitted through the classroom through the formation and dissolution of network ties.

Sathvik Palakurty 2017-2018 CCS Fellow

Sathvik Palakurty (2017-2018)

Project:  Modeling Relationships Between Taxa Using Microbiome Networks

Mentors:
Michelle Afkhami, PhD | Department of Biology
Neil Johnson, PhD | Department of Physics [Now at George Washington]

Sathvik is an undergraduate student pursuing a degree in Biology and Mathematics (Applied). He is interested in emerging systems biology approaches to complex problems and is currently using coexpression network analyses of RNAseq data to ask about the molecular basis of Multiple Mutualist Effects.

Emily Prince University of Miami Center for Computational Science CCS Fellow 2015-16

Emily Prince (2015-2016)

Project:  Measurement of Behavior During the Strange Situation

Mentors:
Daniel S. Messinger, PhD  |  Professor of Psychology
Juhong Park, PhD  |  Assistant Professor, School of Architecture

Developmental/Clinical Psychology Doctoral Candidate

Tatiana Schnitman University of Miami Center for Computational Science CCS Fellow 2015-16

Tatiana Espindola Schnitman (2015-2016) aka Catalina von Wrangell

Project:Com’ and shift: a sound play an audio-visual installation created to raise awareness about the loss of musical tradition and knowledge in a cross-cultural context.

Mentors:
Juraj Kojs, PhD  |  Asst. Professor Prof. Practice, Dept. of Theory and Composition, Frost School of Music
Alberto Cairo, PhD  |  Knight Chair in Visual Journalism, School of Communication
Juhong Park, PhD  |  Assistant Professor, School of Architecture

MTC Department Student  |  MM in Digital Arts and Sound Design

Anchen Sun CCS Fellow 2016-2017

Anchen Sun (2016-2017)

Project:  Anchen’s project revolves around the numerical solution of the shallow-water equations on high-performance computers. He is focused on identifying the bottlenecks in the code’s performance—whether in CPU-bound or memory-bandwidth bound—and suggesting improvements.

Mentors:
Mohamed Iskandarani, PhD | Department of Ocean Sciences
William M. Drennan, PhD | Department of Ocean Sciences
Burton Rosenburg, PhD | Computer Science

Nicolas Velasquez CCS Fellow 2016-2017

Nicolas Velasquez (2016-2017)

Project: Evolution of the Infrastructural Power of the State:  Magdalena Medio, 1982-2002

Mentors:
Elvira Restrepo, PhD | Geography & Regional Studies and International Studies [now at George Washington]
Shouraseni Sen Roy, PhD | Geography & Regional Studies

Chun Wu

Chun Wu (2014-2015)

Project: Brain Insulin Regulation in Cocaine Addiction and Obesity

Mentors:
Deborah Mash, PhD | Miller School of Medicine
Stefan Wuchty, PhD | Dept. of Computer Science

Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology  |  Miller School of Medicine

Wei Wu 2013-14 Center for Computational Science Fellow

Wei Wu (2013-2014)

Project: Protein Networks Within the Wnt Signaling Pathway

Mentors:
Athula Wikramanayake, PhD | Department of Biology
Enrico Capobianco, PhD | CCS Senior Lead Bioinformatics Scientist

Graduate CCS Fellow

 

 

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