I am a 4th year Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at the University of Vermont and a research scientist at OpenMined. I am very fortunate to be advised by Joe Near. I work at the crossroads of privacy, security, and safety, across different kinds of AI models, including generative AI. My research aims to transform how we build and deploy machine learning systems, ensuring they protect not just data, but also the people and models involved.
I tackle fundamental questions about responsible AI development: ‘How do we create AI systems that respect privacy while remaining powerful and useful?’, ‘How can we bridge the gap between theoretical guarantees and practical, scalable solutions?’, ‘What new risks emerge as AI systems grow more advanced, and how can we address them effectively?’
To answer these questions, I focus on making AI systems trustworthy at multiple levels: from secure multi-party computation protocols that enable privacy-preserving collaboration at scale (input privacy), to differential privacy techniques that safeguard outputs & mitigate unintended memorization, and contextual privacy systems that protect individuals in their daily interactions with AI.
I was also fortunate to work with IBM Research’s Trustworthy AI group last summer under Karthikeyan Natesan Ramamurthy, mentored by Hao Wang and Amit Dhurandhar.
Fun fact: I’m a true citizen of the world! I’ve hopped across three continents for my education – the journey started with my undergrad in Cameroon, my Master’s degree brought me to Turkey, and now I’m crushing it in the land of the stars and stripes, the good ol’ USA!. Talk about racking up those frequent flyer miles!
Interested in collaborating? If you have a cool idea and would like to discuss it, don’t hesitate to email me.