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Chef’s KISS: Statistics PhD candidate creates new recipe for complex spatial data analysis

Teresa Donnellan — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 20:40:50 +0000

Chef’s KISS: Statistics PhD candidate creates new recipe for complex spatial data analysis Teresa Donnellan Thu, 03/06/2025 - 15:40

Jin Hyung Lee, a PhD candidate in ��AV's Department of Statistics, has developed a methodology for analyzing complex data that is 3,600 times faster than the current standard. He will receive the Korean International Statistical Society (KISS) 2024 Outstanding Student Paper Award for his work and present about it at the American Statistical Association’s Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM) 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee.

The primary application of Lee’s methodology is in the analysis of satellite image data, which is inherently complex and high-dimensional. While traditional methods for estimating values at unobserved locations in such data sets are computationally intensive and time-consuming, Lee's novel approach offers a solution that is significantly faster. This breakthrough has significant implications for various fields, including environmental statistics and public health.

Jin Hyung Lee, photo provided

Lee’s research focuses on the application of variational inference to spatial data using a unique machine learning algorithm. Variational inference is a method used to approximate complex probability distributions, making it a powerful method for handling high-dimensional data. Lee's innovative approach significantly improves the efficiency of spatial data analysis, achieving results that are 3,600 times faster than existing methods while maintaining comparable accuracy.

Lee's method can be used to predict weather patterns in remote and rapidly changing environments like Alaska or Antarctica. The ability to process high-dimensional data quickly and accurately is crucial for making timely and informed decisions in these regions. Additionally, the methodology has potential applications in infectious disease modeling and public health data analysis, where rapid and accurate predictions are essential for effective intervention and policymaking.

Lee's research is part of his broader dissertation work, which focuses on developing and applying variational inference techniques to various statistical models. His goal is to simplify these methods, making them more accessible to non-experts and applicable to a wide range of data types. By doing so, Lee aims to bridge the gap between advanced statistical methodologies and practical applications, enabling more efficient and effective data analysis across different domains.

At the JSM 2025, Lee will have the opportunity to present his research to a large audience of statisticians from around the world. The conference, which attracts more than 5,000 participants annually, provides a platform for sharing cutting-edge research, networking with peers, and exploring new developments in the field of statistics. Lee’s presentation will be part of a session hosted by KISS, where he and other award recipients will showcase their work and receive their awards.

Receiving the KISS Outstanding Student Paper Award is a significant milestone in Lee’s academic journey. It not only recognizes his contributions to the field but also provides him with valuable exposure and opportunities for future collaboration. As Lee continues to advance his research, his innovative methodologies and their applications are poised to make a lasting impact on the field of statistics and beyond.

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George Mason PhD is living the dream in NYC with Met fellowship

Katarina Benson — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 17:57:26 +0000

George Mason PhD is living the dream in NYC with Met fellowship Katarina Benson Wed, 02/19/2025 - 12:57

��AV history PhD candidate Jayme Kurland is living her dream this academic year as the Jane and Morgan Whitney Fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

George Mason PhD candidate Jayme Kurland at the Met. Photo provided

Kurland started her college career as a viola performance major at the University of Oregon before earning her BA in music history. She then got a master’s in music history at Arizona State. As a Met fellow, Kurland is working in the musical instruments department and conducting research for her dissertation. “I’m back in my happy place,” she says, “just working with objects and thinking about the stories they can tell us.”

It’s Good to Be Back: Kurland fell in love with museum work as an undergrad when she landed a job at the Musical Instrument Museum in her hometown of Phoenix. “I never planned to move back home, but working as a curatorial assistant blended my music background with my love of museums.” She also worked as a curatorial research fellow in musical instruments at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston from 2013 to 2017.

Finding Your People: Working at the Met has allowed Kurland the opportunity to connect with scholars in the musical instruments department, as well as throughout the institution. And, of course, the resources the Met offers are unparalleled. “Returning to the museum world at an institution like the Met has been tremendously rewarding. I have been able to complete hands-on work with the museum's guitar collection and really dig into my own research.”

Guitar Heroes: Kurland’s research focuses on a group of Mexican American women who wired amplifiers, wound pickups, and assembled first guitars and amps for guitar manufacturer Fender between 1946 and 1965. In addition to examining instruments in the Met’s collection and conducting oral histories, Kurland is also working with experts at Brooklyn Lutherie, a women-owned guitar and violin repair shop, where they are building a piece of equipment called a pickup winder. “[Winding pickups] is one of the skills of the women I'm studying that was completed by hand. I think that understanding the physical skills [required of the women] is a way to better understand their experience.”

Putting Yourself Out There: In addition to working on her dissertation, Kurland gets to present her research to the public in various ways, including presenting to docents, in public programs, and in a symposium called Research Out Loud, where Met fellows discuss their work. Kurland also started a writing group for fellows that meets twice a week and “holds each other accountable for what we're working on.”

Out on the Town: When not working, Kurland explores the Big Apple. “I am living in NYC full time and really trying to take advantage of the city's music scene. I try to see as much live music as possible!”

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George Mason PhD student looks at deception and human-robot interactions

Colleen Rich — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 14:20:46 +0000

George Mason PhD student looks at deception and human-robot interactions Colleen Rich Thu, 02/13/2025 - 09:20

How likely are humans to trust a robot, especially if that robot has the capacity to lie? This is the question ��AV psychology doctoral candidate Andres Rosero is exploring in his research on human-robot interaction.

George Mason PhD candidate Andres Rosero, pictured here with "Pepper," is exploring deception and human-robot interactions. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

“As robots become more integrated in human society, their roles will transition into those of a collaborative nature rather than as tools used by people,” said Rosero, who works in Applied Psychology and Autonomous Systems (ALPHAS) Lab in the Human Factors and Applied Cognition Program. “In response, these robots must be programmed with enough social awareness to navigate complex interpersonal interactions to build relationships and maintain a positive interaction with the humans they share their environment with.”

Almost 500 participants took part in Rosero's study “Human perceptions of social robot deception behaviors: an exploratory analysis,” which he conducted with George Mason graduate teaching assistant Harris Kelly and psychology professor Elizabeth Phillips. This study gauges how likely participants are to accept a lie told by a robot in various situational contexts and is one of the three manuscripts that comprise Rosero's dissertation.

Participants ranked specific scenarios involving robot deception and evaluated how deceptive the lie was, whether they approved of the robot’s actions, and if the robot’s behavior could be justified. The study placed these scenarios into three different environments: medical, domestic, and retail.

“The goal is to examine human perceptions of AI and robot collaborations across different complex social interactions,” explains Rosero, who received an MA in psychology from George Mason in 2022. “This study is one of two that examine moral norms in robots and how in breaking these moral norms, humans accept and justify the robot's behaviors.”

Each environment presented a unique quandary for the participant. For example, in the medical environment, the robot lied to a patient with Alzheimer’s, telling the patient that her deceased husband was coming home. In the other environments, the robot was evasive rather than uttering false statements.

In the domestic environment, the robot did not reveal to the individual that they were being secretly filmed. And in the retail environment, the robot did not disclose that it was capable of completing an assigned task and didn’t require human assistance. Overall, participants widely believed the robot’s lie in the first scenario, but once the robot’s capacity for deception and manipulation was revealed, they became less trusting. They also were more likely to say that the robot’s behavior in the medical environment was justified than in the other two scenarios.

“Any technology that is designed with the intention of being utilized by people is an intersection of that technology and the humanities,” said Rosero. “Our challenge as psychologists is to design experiments that properly explore this interaction to provide direction to the development of these technologies in the real world.”

Technology’s ability to potentially conceal its true capabilities remains a concern of Rosero, as a focus on human-robot dynamics continues to fuel his research. "I am planning on defending my dissertation in the summer, and I am hoping to continue doing human factors research,” says Rosero. “My goal is to conduct impactful research that can assist people in their interactions with cutting-edge technology.”

When offering advice to students in an age of artificial intelligence and its advancements, Rosero recommends understanding “the practical applications of your work.”

“As an applied psychologist, one of the most important questions I ask myself is how my research can be applied in the real world,” he said. “It is important to understand how your work helps to build upon the current knowledge of the field and how it could impact the development of the larger technology in society.”

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Physics PhD student is using machine learning techniques to unlock the key to predicting solar flares

Katarina Benson — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 14:44:24 +0000

Physics PhD student is using machine learning techniques to unlock the key to predicting solar flares Katarina Benson Mon, 01/27/2025 - 09:44

João Felipe Sousa Pereira’s research on solar flares could one day help us safeguard astronauts and technology in space and even prevent widespread blackouts here on Earth. Pereira, a second-year Physics PhD student at ��AV, is studying solar physics with the goal of uncovering the precise triggers of solar flares.

João Felipe Sousa Pereira. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

Pereira said solar flare prediction is key because really intense solar flares are often associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which in turn can cause geomagnetic storms, carry radiation, and significantly contribute to space weather.

“CMEs, geomagnetic storms, and solar radiation can affect our satellites if we are unprepared. These events can also knock out our GPS or power grids on rare occasions,” he said. “What we really want is to figure out what is causing solar flares. We have some suspicions, but maybe machine learning techniques can find something we didn’t.”

There are already some prediction models in place now, but Pereira’s research is trying to push past the current “bottleneck” in the research. His work is not only trying to confirm previous techniques but also testing out a new one.

Pereira is the recipient of a Graduate Inclusion and Access scholarship, which works to enhance the diversity of the graduate student community at George Mason by providing scholarships for first-generation doctoral students who have been historically underrepresented within their doctoral field of study. The scholarship provides funding and an opportunities to become involved in the graduate community through special events each semester.

“The grade requirements [for the scholarship] are a little higher than those of my fellow grad students, but I think the hard work is rewarding and will help me stay on track to finish within the five years.”

João Felipe Sousa Pereira outside the Mason Observatory. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

Pereira came to George Mason after completing his undergraduate degree in physics and astronomy at University of Maryland (UMD), College Park. He initially became interested in space weather his freshman year at UMD. “I had an introductory electricity and magnetism course. It seemed interesting to me to learn about solar wind, the types of phenomena that occur in space, and how the physics of it all actually impacts us on Earth.”

In his junior and senior years, Pereira worked on space weather research with his then-advisor Surjalal Sharma and became interested in continuing that research in his graduate studies. He then visited George Mason, where he met with his current advisor Jie Zhang of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. “[Zhang] helped me set up the possibilities for what can be done in this field, and he had the idea for the project that I'm working on now,” Pereira said.

On the same visit, Pereira had the opportunity to meet with graduate students who let him know that the PhD program wasn’t easy, but he would have the support he needed. He was able to see the graduate student culture with his own eyes, which helped him feel like he could belong at George Mason.

Pereira offers advice to other students considering PhD programs. “You should talk to as many people as possible—that can help guide your decision process. Some people have good experiences, some people have bad experiences, and they’re all valid. Everyone’s on their own path.”

“Pereira’s passion to research and commitment to his doctoral program are inspiring,” said Laurence Bray, senior associate provost for graduate education. “He represents the Mason Nation at heart by designing his own path to success with strength and resilience.”

Pereira’s enthusiasm for his research continues. “The reason I do physics is because I like figuring out how things work. And it's not necessarily easy, but in the end, when you have that ‘aha moment,’ it really is rewarding,” he said.

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For this historian, the Salem Witch Trials are personal

Colleen Rich — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 12:14:58 +0000

For this historian, the Salem Witch Trials are personal Colleen Rich Wed, 10/30/2024 - 08:14

When Daniel T. Howlett was a junior in high school, he needed to do a history project. Growing up in Massachusetts, near the historic Salem Village, he decided to do one on the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and his own ancestry.

Daniel T. Howlett. Photo provided

“I knew at the time we were descended from the Putnam family, and the Putnams were the main accusing family,” said Howlett, who has completed an MA and is now working on a PhD in history at ��AV. “So going back 10 generations, all of the people who were making accusations are related to me.”

Howlett’s family also has an ancestor on the other side—Mary Bradbury, who was accused of witchcraft and convicted but managed to escape her death sentence.

For his project, he ended up focusing on the relationship between Reverend Cotton Mather, the Boston minister who was leading the charge against witchcraft, and Reverend George Burroughs, who was executed for witchcraft. And that provided the basis for a chapter in the dissertation he is writing.

His dissertation focuses on religion and disability in early America, and the Salem Witch Trials play a role. Howlett said, in a way, that high school project never ended for him. It just grew in scope. He has been a tour guide in Salem and estimates he has visited more than 150 cemeteries for his research, which may make him the perfect candidate for a Halloween-themed interview.

Witches? 150 cemeteries?

I'm originally from North Andover, the town where most people were accused [of witchcraft]. My high school was on the land where Sarah Osborne, one of the first accused, lived. I grew up down the street from the cemetery where Timothy Swan, one of the accusers, is buried. The Salem Witch Trials were quite literally in my backyard. I've been surrounded by this is topic for a very long time.

But part of it was more—I'm a historian. This is a historical place. It's just kind of neat. I never thought it would end up being a key component to my research.

The gravestone of Timothy Swan, one of the accusers at the witch trials. Photo provided

Do you have a favorite cemetery?

I have a bunch that I like, and I've gone back to a couple of them. So the one in my hometown, North Andover’s First Burial Ground is obviously a favorite because it's close to home. I've been there a ton of times. A lot of the important graves that I look at are from there. But I also like Marblehead's Old Burial Hill, Newburyport’s Old Hill Burying Ground, Hingham Cemetery, Plymouth’s Burial Hill. There are so many fun cemeteries out there.

Everyone goes to Salem for Halloween. Are they going to the wrong place?

I've worked as a tour guide in Salem for a summer job, and I've had Salem residents shout out that “the witches weren't from here.” Salem was larger than it is today. Salem Village, which is now the town of Danvers, where my high school was, is where it starts. Salem is like the seat of the county at the time so the trials happened there.

In your research, you’ve been able to make connections between disability and the witch trials. Can you talk about that?

When these accusations of witchcraft are being made, the young accusers are said to be falling “deaf, dumb and blind”—that’s the quote that gets used. So they're losing their speech, their hearing, and their sight because that's what they expect witchcraft afflictions to do.

"Trial of George Jacobs, August 5, 1692" by Thomkins H. Matteson (Wikimedia Commons)

All of those have very important theological meanings because you're supposed to be able to say your prayers, read the Bible, hear the minister's sermons. All your religious participation is dependent on your senses working. The idea is if your body is unable to do that, your soul can't be nourished with the faith and religion that it needs for you to gain your eternal salvation. So that's the threat that's behind a lot of these witchcraft afflictions.

But for the accusers, this is a temporary state. They get afflicted by witchcraft and then they come out of it because they arrest the witch. They pray to God and there's divine intervention that helps them pass these disabilities.

When they accuse someone of witchcraft, it's not necessarily because they have a disability. But whenever they get the chance, the accusers seem to make a connection to [the accused’s] disability. For example, Rebecca Nurse [who was convicted of witchcraft and executed in 1692] being “hard of hearing” in her own words, that's what she says in the trial transcript.

They say that's the devil, or the black man, whispering in her ear. The black man was often used as the stand-in for Satan at the time. That has a ton of racialized tones because Indigenous people were referred to as Black. There's a ton of frontier violence going on. It's one of the big threats.

For my research, I'm looking at the word disability as some stated version of difference so maybe not disability as we recognize it today. At the time, illness and disability are conflated a lot. Whatever that difference is its often used to insinuate motivation, but also proof that the devil has hardened your heart to God. You are therefore a sinner and more likely to be guilty in a witch.

That’s still a lot of cemeteries. Do you believe in ghosts?

I don't believe in ghosts. I want them to be real because I think that'd just be kind of fun. [George Mason] history grad students sometimes joke that a great indie horror film would be a grad student doing their dissertation with a Ouija board to interview their sources. I've been to 150 cemeteries. I've not been haunted yet.

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New study shows that university students experienced increased psychological distress during COVID-19, but utilized fewer support services

mthomp7 — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 11:09:35 +0000

New study shows that university students experienced increased psychological distress during COVID-19, but utilized fewer support services mthomp7 Wed, 10/30/2024 - 07:09

Underrepresented students, particularly women of color, were less likely to receive mental health services during the pandemic.

PhD in Public Health candidate Elaine Russell and her mentor Kenneth Griffin, a professor in the Department of Global and Community Health, in ��AV’s College of Public Health, worked with Tolulope Abidogun, also a PhD in Public Health student, and former Global and Community Health professor Lisa Lindley, now of Lehigh University, to analyze data from the American College Health Association National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA III) in an effort to understand how university students’ mental health needs changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

PhD in Public Health candidate Elaine Russell studied how university students’ mental health needs changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“More U.S. college students suffered from mental health concerns during the pandemic, but fewer received necessary mental health treatment,” says Russell.

This study is the first to use a national dataset to examine changes in university students’ psychological well-being and their utilization of mental health services from pre-COVID-19 to peak pandemic. Russell and the research team found that, consistent with prior research related to diverse populations, racial/ethnic, gender, and sexual minority groups were at a greater risk of suffering from poor mental health during the pandemic. Additional findings revealed that, during the pandemic, students of color, especially female students of color, were less likely to receive mental health services.

“When developing innovative approaches to improving mental health outcomes on college campuses, it is important to be culturally sensitive and understand the diverse needs of the specific student population,” says Russell.

The study used data from before the COVID-19 pandemic (Fall 2019 and early Spring 2020) and during the pandemic (Spring 2021) to examine mental health symptoms and utilization of mental health services among university students. The sample was limited to full-time undergraduate students aged 18-24 attending four-year universities in the United States. In addition to analyzing the entire sample of university students, the team examined demographic subgroups based on race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

Several validated psychological testing scales were used in the study to indicate students’ self-reported levels of psychological distress, loneliness, overall stress, psychological well-being, and resilience. Additional survey questions asked about COVID-19 specific stressors, including the students’ concern over themselves or their loved ones getting COVID-19 and being unable to spend time with the people they care about due to the pandemic lockdowns. Students’ use of mental health services within the 12 months preceding the survey was also assessed.

“These findings are important to better understand sub-groups who disproportionally suffer from severe psychological distress but may not be accessing the necessary care,” the study reports. While issues such as a lack of access to mental health services and discrimination within the health care system are undoubtedly factors in students’ reluctance to seek mental health care, the stigma surrounding mental health is also prohibitive.

“Improvements in mental health resources must also address stigma and empower students to access necessary care,” Russell says, specifying the use of peer health educators and making efforts to normalize mental health treatment may be effective prevention strategies.

Russell concludes by calling for future research to increase understanding of the barriers to mental health service use among high-risk university students.

“Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on university students’ psychological distress, well-being, and utilization of mental health services in the United States: Populations at greatest risk” was published online in Frontiers in Public Health in October 2024.

The authors are Elaine Cooper Russell, ��AV; Tolulope M. Abidogun, ��AV; Lisa L. Lindley, Lehigh University; and Kenneth W. Griffin, ��AV.

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PhD student knows how to (neural) network

Teresa Donnellan — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 18:54:28 +0000

PhD student knows how to (neural) network Teresa Donnellan Tue, 10/15/2024 - 14:54

Electrical and computer engineering PhD student Shay Snyder is not only “a very capable student,” as his ��AV advisor Maryam Parsa said, but he is also a tenacious networker. Passionate for his subject and tireless in his pursuit of research opportunities, Snyder joined George Mason's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and assisted in securing at least two years of funding for a project in Parsa’s lab.

Parsa’s research focuses on neuromorphic, or "brain-inspired," computing across various levels of the computing stack. The question is "how can neuroscience and biology help us redesign computers to be more capable, energy-efficient, and robust?" said Parsa, who is an assistant professor in ECE.

Although Snyder began his PhD in January 2023, he had been part of the Mason Nation for the prior year, working as an undergraduate research assistant for Parsa as he finished up a bachelor’s degree at East Tennessee State University.

Snyder was an effective networker even as a teenager. He attended a two-week summer camp at Oak Ridge National Laboratory as a junior in high school and was eager to return.

Shay Snyder. Photo provided by Maryam Parsa.

“I found out that they have an internship program for high schoolers, so my entire senior year of high school, I emailed and emailed, saying like, ‘Hey, I like this about your work, and I want to work with you," Snyder said.

He recalled, “I sent so many emails, I got two e-mail accounts blocked because they thought I was spamming them, but luckily I heard back … so a week after I graduated from high school, I got to go to work at Oak Ridge for a summer, and that kind of started everything.”

He added, “It was a miracle.”

The internship was an eye-opening experience for Snyder. “Where I grew up in East Tennessee was much more remote," he said. "There are not a lot of technology jobs, and coming from my high school, I think over 50% of the kids were below the poverty line. So getting to see that was a whole new world for me, and I was determined that I wanted to continue doing work like they do at Oak Ridge.”

After that initial internship, Snyder continued reaching out to scientists he had met or learned about at Oak Ridge. He attended Lunch and Learn events for undergraduate students, at one of which he met Catherine Schuman, who introduced Snyder to the concept of neuromorphic computing.

“I was super inspired,” he said. He followed up with Schuman and was offered a yearlong position at Oak Ridge doing autonomous vehicle research for General Motors. He took his undergraduate classes part-time and worked remotely to leverage this opportunity.

Snyder first encountered Parsa when she gave a presentation at the International Conference on Neuromorphic Systems. She was then a post-doc also working at Oak Ridge National Laboratory with Schuman. Snyder contacted her, and the two stayed in touch. After joining George Mason, Parsa hired Snyder remotely as an undergraduate research assistant while he finished his undergraduate degree. Meanwhile, Snyder also started a part-time internship at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.)

“[Snyder] was still an undergraduate, and he worked on an area that was completely different from his background,” said Parsa. “The project was on neuromorphic computing, but it involved learning multiple new areas including Bayesian learning and Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINN). He quickly learned the necessary background and developed Lava Bayesian Optimization that later merged with the Intel’s neuromorphic optimization framework, Lava-Optimization.”

The work has been published in multiple conference papers at the International Conference on Neuromorphic Computing Systems (ICONS), the Great Lakes Symposium on Very Large Scale Integration (GLSVLSI), and the International Conference on Machine Learning and Applications (ICMLA), and Snyder’s contribution is publicly available in Intel’s open-source Lava framework.

Two years ago, after Parsa circulated a call for proposals from the Army Ground Vehicle Research Center with her lab, Snyder approached her with an idea involving hyperdimensional computing. She encouraged him to write a draft. The two refined the idea and submitted a white paper on the topic. They were then invited to submit a full proposal, which was accepted for funding. So, the same semester that Snyder joined Parsa’s lab as a PhD student, the lab also began to receive funding for a project based on Snyder’s idea.

Maryam Parsa and lab members. Photo provided by Maryam Parsa.

Since Spring 2023, Snyder has become a full PhD student at George Mason and remains an important part of Parsa’s lab. Snyder has taken lead on multiple projects, academic, industry and government collaborations, and published multiple papers. He has also been mentoring not only high school interns and undergraduate students in Parsa’s lab, but also other PhD students. Since Snyder joined Parsa’s lab, he has been the first author of five published conference papers in top artificial intelligence and neuromorphic venues and coauthor in one published journal paper and six published conference papers.

Parsa deeply appreciates having Snyder in her lab, not only for his technical and professional skills but also for the positive energy he brings to the team. She highlights how Snyder's can-do attitude, curiosity, and collaborative nature have been instrumental to the success of numerous projects. His peers frequently rely on him, valuing his contributions and leadership in driving projects forward. Parsa regards working with Snyder as a true pleasure, given the impact he has made inside and outside in the lab.

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First-year PhD student makes business and society better through data

Jennifer Anzaldi — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 20:55:38 +0000

First-year PhD student makes business and society better through data Jennifer Anzaldi Mon, 10/14/2024 - 16:55

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Mehmet Altug

Xinyi Li, a first-year PhD student at ��AV's Costello College of Business, joins the program with a co-authored peer-reviewed paper already published in the United States on African American youth suicidality, alongside a similar publication history in China. Her work reflects a commitment to using data analytics to improve societal and business outcomes.

Li’s academic career spans multiple disciplines. She began in China, earning a bachelor of economics with a concentration in finance from Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics. One of her notable projects during her undergraduate studies involved the planning and risk assessment of insurance for assisted reproductive technologies. She then pursued a master’s in finance at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, where her thesis examined the relationship between IPO underpricing and the reputation and location of underwriters.

Xinyi Li

In 2023, Li earned a second master's degree in business analytics from George Washington University (GWU), where her passion for data analysis led her to a meaningful social science research project. “Last summer, Dr. Saijun Zhang, the first author of the paper, asked me if I would like to join a project studying the factors influencing suicidal behavior in African American teenagers,” Li explained. The study examined how factors such as parenting styles and exposure to violence affect suicidal tendencies.

Li contributed to the project by applying her data analysis expertise, using methods like logistic regression models and correlation analysis to identify key social factors affecting suicidal behavior.

“We found that neglectful parenting was significantly associated with an increase in suicidal ideation,” Xinyi noted. “It was fascinating to see how the analytical techniques I learned in business analytics could be applied to such a critical social issue.”

Li is now pursuing a PhD in operations management (OM) at Costello, a shift motivated by her growing interest in areas like supply chain management and game theory. “When I took a course in supply chain management during my master’s, I realized how exciting it was to apply data models to solve real business problems. That’s what inspired me to move into operations management,” she shared.

During the first year of her PhD program, Li will be focusing on coursework and exploring various research directions under the guidance of Mehmet Altug, associate professor of information systems and operations management.

Looking forward, Li is eager to contribute to both academia and industry. “In the short term, my goal is to become deeply familiar with the literature in operations management and start identifying key research areas,” Li said. “Long term, I hope to publish in top academic journals and find a position where I can continue applying my skills to solve practical problems.”

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PhD student’s research on COVID-19 transmission leads to discovery of a major model gap

Colleen Rich — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 20:52:40 +0000

PhD student’s research on COVID-19 transmission leads to discovery of a major model gap Colleen Rich Fri, 08/09/2024 - 16:52

Scientists have long studied the spread of diseases, but the emergence of COVID-19 and its profound impact on society have underscored the critical need to understand where and how diseases spread. As ��AV doctoral student Jericho McLeod reviewed literature on disease transmission as part of his work toward a PhD in computational science and informatics, he and George Mason professor Eduardo López noticed a gap in the models and now seek to correct it.

From left, PhD student and George Mason alum Jericho McLeod with Professor Eduardo López in front of their research poster at the International Pandemic Sciences Conference at Oxford University. Photo provided

In trying to understand why disease transmissions were worse in some areas over others, McLeod and López dove into COVID-19 data looking specifically at extended family ties—meaning family members beyond the nuclear family of parents and children, such as cousins, aunts, uncles, or grandparents.

“According to research on social networks in the United States, individuals during crises like COVID-19, contract their social circles yet become more active with them,” said McLeod. “During lockdown, you saw your friends less, but may have still delivered groceries to your grandmother regularly.”

Studies by McLeod, López, and George Mason PhD student Unchitta Kan previously confirmed that people migrated closer to family more frequently after the pandemic began and that availability of extended family plays a primary factor in influencing face-to-face interaction, laying the groundwork for this research. Now, McLeod and López wanted to know if these extended family ties played a role in the spread of COVID-19.

With the help of Kan and doctoral students Bryan Adams, Valentin Vergara Hidd, and Mailun (Alan) Zhang, they aimed to confirm that these networks mattered enough to warrant future research and updates to disease modeling.

The team gathered obituaries in the Unites States between 2020 to 2022 to examine familial relationships with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data on deaths by geography, age, and gender. They found that during COVID-19, there were more instances of multiple family members dying within short periods (e.g., 60 days) compared to 2018 and 2019, where such cases were less common. This rise in deaths aligns with CDC data on excess deaths but is more noticeable between different waves of the pandemic. So, should these relationships be considered in models demonstrating the spread of disease? McLeod says yes.

In July, McLeod presented his research at the International Pandemic Sciences Conference at Oxford University and was awarded best poster presentation in the epidemiology, data and analytics category.

“I am very proud of our work, and it has been collaborative in every way,” said López, who is an associate professor of computational data sciences. “Jericho has a strong ability to work through the data engineering portion of a problem, but also has the intuition necessary to make this research happen. We were optimistic that we would see the effects that we did, and now we have this great opportunity to study something that people have just completely overlooked.”

McLeod earned a degree in accounting from the University of South Alabama before attending George Mason to earn an MBA. In one of his business courses at the Costello College of Business taught by Pallab Sanyal, professor of information systems and operations management, McLeod was introduced to data analytics and machine learning—and found it fascinating. He went on complete a graduate certificate in data analytics at George Mason before deciding to pursue a PhD.

“Attending the [Oxford] conference was so energizing,” McLeod said. “It brought together a collection of top minds, and Dr. López knew the right people to introduce me to, which led to additional conversations, ideation, and thoughts on future directions for this research.”

George Mason’s Graduate Student Travel Fund, offered by the Office of the Provost, supported McLeod’s trip to the Oxford-based conference.

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George Mason scientists explore adhesives to advance preservation of historical texts

Colleen Rich — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 18:49:44 +0000

George Mason scientists explore adhesives to advance preservation of historical texts Colleen Rich Thu, 07/11/2024 - 14:49

What does science have to do with the conservation of historical texts? Everything.

Doctoral student Rocío Prisby. Photo provided

Rocío Prisby, a biosciences doctoral student at ��AV, led the first comprehensive analysis of proteins found within wheat starch-based and flour-based pastes used in historic texts.

This study produced a working database for historians to cross-reference for their own samples that will ultimately result in greater understanding of the evolution of adhesives, while also providing a starting point to determine the best conservation practices for bookbinding and paper conservation.

Each sample tells a story—someone in the 1500s mixing flour, water, and milk in a large bowl to create a paste that binds paper; another in the 1600s hoping to improve their glue’s viscosity with a dash of egg. But each story is different, and the uncertainty in these mixtures reinforces the need for a central database to aid in historical research.

“We still don’t know when in human history people stopped mixing flour and water and shifted to starches,” said Prisby, who also has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from George Mason. “So, you can’t make any assumptions for what a book’s glue makeup might be.”

Prisby worked alongside George Mason researchers Alessandra Luchini and Lance Liotta of the Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine, as well as Caroline Solazzo from the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute. Their study, published in the Journal of Proteome Research, involved extracting wheat proteins from three small leather cover samples obtained from the National Library of Medicine.

Photo by Getty Images

Their methodology sought to establish a protocol capable of identifying wheat proteins, along with collagen and other proteins commonly found in leather and adhesives. The results were then compared to a database containing collagen proteins from various sources like cattle, sheep, goats, and chicken eggs, as well as wheat proteins from common wheat.

Analysis of historical samples indicates a shift away from using whole wheat for glue production towards the use of starch-based glues. This transition has led to a noticeable decrease in protein content, as the starch extraction process significantly reduces the protein levels in the final product.

Consequently, samples containing starch-based glue exhibit considerably lower protein concentrations compared to those containing traditional wheat-based glue. Environmental conditions and extraction techniques also influence protein composition. Prisby said understanding the chemical changes in wheat-based adhesives is crucial for conservation and restoration practices, particularly in comprehending the degradation of samples over time.

The study’s researchers suggest that further investigation into wheat pastes and other plant-based adhesives should consider a diverse array of factors, including preparation methods, additives, aging processes, and the extensive variety and composition of the raw materials used.

A native of Argentina, Prisby (formerly Cornero) began her chemistry studies at a local university before moving to the United States. She continued her studies at Northern Virginia Community College and was in the first ADVANCE cohort to transfer to George Mason.

Prisby began researching proteins as an undergraduate in the College of Science’s Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program (ASSIP). In that early research, she studied the proteins in honey to monitor the health of the local environment while also seeking to identify a biomarker that might detect and diagnose diseases in honey bees.

It was through that project that Prisby met Luchini and became interested in her lab’s work in proteomics.

“Dr. Luchini is a great mentor. She dedicates so much time to her students,” said Prisby. “It doesn’t matter what knowledge or experience level you’re at, she meets you where you are.”

When Prisby graduated from George Mason with her undergraduate degree in chemistry, it was Luchini who encouraged her to pursue a PhD in Biosciences.

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