Alexander Ratzan
Ph.D. Student
Computer Science
I’m currently a PhD student at NYU Tandon School of Engineering. As an NDSEG fellow, I work in the Neuroinformatics Lab advised by Dr. Erdem Varol to develop novel, efficient, and scalable methods to address unsolved problems in neuroscience.
My research is currently focused on understanding the relationship between genetics and brain connectivity patterns, an avenue that can impact how we treat brain disorders. I approach this research problem by applying techniques from statistical machine learning, graph-theory, and deep learning to large genomic and neuroimaging datasets.
More broadly, I’m curious about the intersection of natural and artificial intelligence and how we can improve AI models to benefit human health.
Research Interests: computational neuroscience, machine learning, neuroimaging, genomics
Background
I received my Bachelor’s degree in Cognitive & Brain Sciences from Tufts University. At Tufts, I worked as an undergraduate research assistant at the Tufts Human Computer Interaction Lab and the Integrative Cognitive Neuroscience Lab. I also played on the Tufts men’s soccer team where I competed for four years and won two DIII National Championships.
After undergrad, I worked as a neuroimaging research technician and data analyst at Columbia University’s Department of Neurology and Biostatistics.
In my free time I enjoy biking, travelling, and supporting Arsenal FC.
News
- May ‘24: Awarded National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NYU Tandon is now home to a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellow)
- April ‘24: Two publications accepted at Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders
- December ‘23: First-author publication accepted at Memory
- September ‘23: Started PhD at New York University
- April ‘23: Received National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program Honorable Mention Award
- November ‘22: Presented undergrad research at Society for Neuroscience Conference