Brown University Data Science Institute

Congratulations to CCMB PhD students Jessy Patricoski-Chavez and Jacob Marglous on receiving NIH F30/F31 training grants this spring!

CCMB PHD student Jessy Patricoski-Chavez (advisor: Ece Uzun) was recently been awarded an NIH F31 training grant. Through her research project, "Deep Learning for Multi-Omics-Based Prediction of Cancer Recurrence and Treatment Non-Response," Jessy will develop explainable deep learning models incorporating genomic, clinical, and protein-protein interaction data to provide valuable insights into the progression and treatment of glioma, lung adenocarcinoma, and breast carcinoma.

CCMB MD/PHD student Jacob Marglous (advisor: Jeff Bailey) was recently been awarded an NIH F30 training grant. Through Jake's research project, entitled "Improving computational detection and genotyping of copy number variants in small complex genomes: application to high throughput sequencing in the parasite Plasmodium falciparum," he will benchmark and improve methods for copy number variation detection for malaria parasites, gaining insight into the spread of drug resistance in Africa.

Congratulations to all of our students graduating this spring! Thank you to everyone who joined us for our festivities during 2026 Commencement Weekend, including our celebratory undergraduate lunch, master's dinner, Commencement panel on "How do we reclaim our humanity in an AI-driven world?", and alumni mixer! It was so wonderful to celebrate with you all!

Graduating student spotlight: Asher Labovich ✨

Asher Labovich is a graduating senior in Applied Math (with Honors) and International and Public Affairs. Asher has spent his time at Brown exploring applications of mathematics and machine learning, starting a machine-learning-driven election prediction and analysis platform called 24cast with the Brown Political Review, and completing a senior thesis on the mathematical underpinnings of looped transformers.

Asher is the recipient of the Data Science Institute's 2026 Excellence in Data Science Research Award, recognizing his remarkable technical contributions to the field, including his single-author publication in Transactions on Machine Learning Research regarding algorithmic improvements for gradient-boosted decision trees.

Asher is grateful for all the passionate, smart, kind people he has met during his time at Brown. He will be starting at Liquid AI in Boston as a research engineer following graduation.

Explore all our student spotlights: https://dsi.brown.edu/news/2026-05-07/2026-graduating-student-spotlights

Graduating student spotlight: Sissy Han✨

Sissy Han is a graduating senior in computational biology. During her time at Brown, Sissy conducted computational biology research in Will Fairbrother’s lab and became passionate about using computational methods and multi-omic data to generate meaningful biological insights. Outside the classroom and the lab, Sissy found a second family on Brown’s Women’s Golf Team. This fall, Sissy will begin a Ph.D. in Computational Biology and Biomedical Informatics at Yale University. She encourages current and future students to explore Brown, explore Providence, and say yes to every opportunity they can!

Graduating student spotlight: Megan Carlson ✨

Megan Carlson is a graduating senior whose research focuses on functional genomics, gene regulation, and the 3D genome. During her time at Brown, Megan conducted genomics research in the Erica Larschan lab, where she investigated sex-specific nuclear organization in Drosophila and developed the project into her honors thesis. Outside of research, Megan led Brown Puzzle Club and Brown Puzzlehunt, helped organize Yarnaholics@Brown, and performed with the Wind Symphony.

This fall, Megan Carlson will begin a Ph.D. in Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics at Harvard University. She is grateful for the mentorship and community that shaped her time at Brown and for the flexibility of the open curriculum, which allowed her to explore new interests every semester.

Read Megan's full spotlight on DSI News: https://dsi.brown.edu/news/2026-05-07/2026-graduating-student-spotlights

Graduating student spotlight: Skylar Sargent Walters ✨

Skylar is a graduating senior passionate about exploring viruses through computational approaches and applying language processing techniques to infectious disease research. Skylar is going on to pursue a Ph.D. in Computational Biology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Outside of research, Skylar has loved engaging in the student music scene with their banjo, participating in the Old Time String Band, and joining a rock band, Log Lady.

Graduating student spotlight: Peter Van Katwyk ✨

Peter Van Katwyk is a graduating Ph.D. student whose research focuses on using Machine Learning to better understand Earth’s climate, particularly how the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets will contribute to sea level rise over the next century.

During his time at Brown, he has explored interdisciplinary research at the intersection of Earth and computational sciences through the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences (DEEPS) and the Data Science Institute (DSI).

Peter will soon be joining Microsoft as an Applied Scientist in Seattle. He encourages current and future students to have fun, embrace mistakes, and give themselves space to learn and figure things out.

Read Peter’s full spotlight on DSI News: https://dsi.brown.edu/news/2026-05-07/2026-graduating-student-spotlights

Stay tuned for more graduating student spotlights leading up to Commencement!

Congratulations to graduating seniors Emily Hong, Asher Labovich, and Joseph Oduro, recipients of the Data Science Institute’s 2026 Senior Awards in Public Service, Research Excellence, and Outstanding Service!

Data Science Institute's Public Service in Data Science Award:
Emily Hong, ’26.5, Computer Science and Sociology

Data Science Institute's Excellence in Data Science Research Award:
Asher Labovich ‘26, Applied Math & International and Public Affairs

Outstanding Service to DSI and Brown University Award:
Joseph Oduro ‘26, Mathematical Finance & Computer Science

Graduating student spotlight: Terren Wise ✨

Terren Wise is a graduating senior in Design Engineering who has spent his time at Brown exploring interdisciplinary approaches to solving complex issues through the Center for Technological Responsibility, Re-imagination, and Redesign (CNTR) and working with U-FLi, military veterans, and nontraditional RUE students to promote community.

During his time at Brown, Terren led the CNTR’s first Technology and Science Policy Summit, Terren Wise, connecting technologists, engineers, scientists, and decision-makers to communicate and collaborate across different backgrounds.

He encourages current and future students to get involved in opportunities that align with their interests, even if they fall outside their concentration, and he credits the kindness and support of the Brown community for making his experience so memorable.

Read Terren’s full spotlight on DSI News: https://dsi.brown.edu/news/2026-05-07/2026-graduating-student-spotlights

Stay tuned for more graduating student spotlights coming soon in the weeks leading up to Commencement!

Graduating student spotlight: Luke Nguyen ✨

Luke Nguyen is a graduating senior in computational biology who has spent his time at Brown exploring computational biology through research with the Bailey Lab and supporting student communities like the Vietnamese Student Association and the Brown Research Club.

Luke is passionate about finding patterns in health data that can improve patient care, and he hopes to become a physician scientist in the future.

Luke plans to take the collaborative and innovative spirit of Brown with him in his future endeavors, and he urges current and future students to step outside their comfort zones to explore all that Brown has to offer.

Read Luke’s full spotlight on DSI News: https://dsi.brown.edu/news/2026-05-07/2026-graduating-student-spotlights