Aug. 20, 2026
Levi Dial
Levi Dial is a PhD student specializing in geospatial data fusion, spatial analysis, machine learning, and deep learning across domains. He has applied these methods to projects in public health, journalism, finance, and agriculture. His current research focuses on improving the spatial and statistical representation of location-based public health data, both to increase the accuracy and quality of the data itself and to better capture complex relationships between locations in machine learning and deep learning models.
Aug. 20, 2026
Vishwa Bhayani
Vishwa Bhayani is an Informatics and Data Analyst at the Missouri Cancer Registry, a part-time PhD student in Health Informatics, and a Certified Oncology Data Specialist (ODS). With more than 10 years of healthcare experience, she specializes in healthcare analytics, cancer surveillance, health information management, and data-driven decision-making. Her interests lie in leveraging artificial intelligence, automation, and advanced analytics to improve healthcare operations, data quality, public health outcomes, and patient care.
Aug. 20, 2026
Ruth Otu
Ruth is a PhD student in the MU Institute for Data Science and Informatics with an emphasis in Health Informatics. Her research focuses on the responsible application of artificial intelligence and machine learning, including natural language processing, to improve healthcare delivery and outcomes, particularly for rural and underserved populations. She holds dual master’s degrees in Health Administration and Biomedical Informatics, Biostatistics and Medical Epidemiology from the University of Missouri and has a clinical background in dentistry. Her work spans rural telehealth, clinical AI, healthcare analytics, and healthcare operations, including using NLP to understand implementation barriers in telehealth programs and…
Aug. 20, 2026
Arpita Howlader
I am a PhD student in Informatics at the University of Missouri–Columbia, where I serve as a Graduate Research Assistant at the MU Institute for Data Science and Informatics. With more than nine years of teaching experience at the undergraduate and graduate levels, I am currently on study leave from my role as Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering. My research interests include artificial intelligence and machine learning for healthcare and data visualization, quantum computing, biomedical informatics, and drug repositioning to develop intelligent and context-aware healthcare solutions.
Feb. 12, 2026
Lily McEwen
Lily McEwen is a doctoral student with a multidisciplinary emphasis on geospatial and heritage informatics, and she is a GRA for the MU 3D Heritage Informatics Lab (PI Dr. Medeia Csoba DeHass). Her research focuses on how Indigenous cultural protocols and research priorities can inform heritage informatics, using geospatial technologies to support Alaska Native digital heritage preservation. Lily’s project incorporates human-centered computing as she facilities the development of a 3D digital exhibit to feature 3D digital models of cultural heritage from the Kawerak region of Alaska created in partnership with MU’s Adroit Studios and Kawerak Inc. Her research follows the Co-Production of Knowledge Framework, Indigenous Data Governance, and the CARE and FAIR principles. Lily serves as a Board Member for the United States Association of Polar Early Career Scholars (USAPECS).
Feb. 2, 2026
Sameep Dhakal
I am a PhD student in Informatics with research interests in applying artificial intelligence to solve real-world problems. My work spans the development of software and informatics tools, as well as deep learning–based approaches for next-day wildfire prediction. I earned my bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Tribhuvan University in Nepal, where I also gained experience as a software developer and instructor. I joined the University of Missouri in August 2024 to pursue my doctoral studies, bringing a background in applied research, teaching, and practical system development.
Sep. 5, 2025
Temitope Eyinla
Temitope Eyinla is a PhD student in the MU Institute for Data Science and Informatics with an emphasis in health informatics. He plans to explore causal inference methods, particularly target trial emulation, and their applications to epidemiology and biomedical data, with a focus on chronic disease management and public health challenges such as cancer screening. Temitope holds a Bachelor’s in Mathematics from Adekunle Ajasin University, Nigeria, and an MSc. in Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Notre Dame, USA. He brings over six years of experience in Data Analytics, with two years in the healthcare…
Sep. 5, 2025
Samrat Kumar Dey
I am a PhD student in Informatics specializing in Medical Informatics at the University of Missouri–Columbia, where I serve as a Graduate Research Assistant at the MU Institute for Data Science and Informatics in the Interdisciplinary Data Analytics and Search (iDAS) Lab. With more than nine years of teaching experience at the undergraduate level, I am currently on study leave from my role as Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering. My research interests include Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Healthcare, Agentic AI, Data Visualization, and Visual Reasoning, with a strong emphasis on disease predictive modeling, healthcare decision-making,…
Sep. 5, 2025
Jeong Wook Lee
I am interested in spatial analysis, particularly in how it can be applied to public health. My research goal is to explore the intersection between geospatial data and health outcomes, with a focus on understanding how physical and mental health issues are distributed across space.