People

We are an interdisciplinary team of academic researchers, data scientists, and journalists who combine the power of rigorous statistical analysis with rich visual narratives to drive social impact. We span a wide range of disciplines, including engineering, humanities, and the law.

Staff

Sharad Goel

Faculty Director

Sharad Goel is the faculty director of the Computational Policy Lab and is a Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University. In his research, Sharad looks at public policy through the lens of computer science, bringing a new, computational perspective to a diverse range of contemporary social issues. Before joining Harvard, Sharad was on the Stanford faculty with appointments in Management Science & Engineering, Computer Science, Sociology, and the Law School. He completed a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics at Cornell University. He plays a variety of musical instruments, all of them badly.

Alex Chohlas-Wood

Executive Director

Alex Chohlas-Wood is the executive director of the Computational Policy Lab. Alex led the development of data-driven tools in both the private and public sector, including as the Director of Analytics for the New York Police Department (NYPD). Alex holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University, an M.S. from New York University, and a B.A. from Carleton College. His favorite color is gray.

Joe Nudell

Lead Engineer

Joe Nudell is an engineer in the Computational Policy Lab. Joe is interested in how technology can help us understand, talk about, and intervene on big social issues from mass incarceration to the housing crisis. Prior to joining the lab, Joe was a Software Engineer building analytics systems at Dropbox, and before that he received his A.B. and A.M. from the University of Chicago. Joe also spends a lot of time playing music and photographing mushrooms with his trusty dog, Leopold.

Students

Madison Coots

Researcher

Madison is a PhD student at the Harvard Kennedy School. Previously, she was a data scientist in the Computational Policy Lab and has also worked as a Graduate Fellow in Data Science for the U.S. Federal Government. Madison holds an M.S. in Computer Science and a B.S. in Management Science and Engineering, both from Stanford University. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, tending to her numerous houseplants, and reading.

Johann Gaebler

Researcher

Johann Gaebler is a Ph.D. student at Harvard University. Johann is broadly interested in the development and application of data science tools to complex social problems, such as mass incarceration, hiring discrimination, and other issues at the intersection of statistics, computer science, and policy. Previously, Johann worked at the ACLU and received an M.Sc. in the History of Science from Oxford University, and an A.B. in mathematics from Harvard University. In his free time, Johann likes to backpack, play the guitar, and learn new languages.

Josh Grossman

Researcher

Josh Grossman is a Ph.D. student in MS&E at Stanford. Previously, he was an associate product manager at IXL Learning, a K–12 edtech company. Josh has an A.B. from Harvard University, where he studied neurobiology and statistics.

Shira Gur-Arieh

Researcher

Shira Gur-Arieh is a doctoral candidate at Harvard Law School and a Graduate Student Fellow at the Berkman-Klein Center for Internet and Society. She is broadly interested in legal and ethical questions surrounding the design, development, and the use of AI systems. Before coming to Harvard, Shira clerked for the Chief Justice of the Israeli Supreme Court. Outside of academics, Shira is an enthusiastic member of the law school's acapella group.

Muskan Walia

Researcher

Muskan Walia is a fourth-year student at the University of Utah, studying math and philosophy. She is interested in utilizing mathematics principles to tackle pressing social issues. Muskan also cherishes time spent bird watching, gardening, making pottery, and exploring Trader Joes.

Michael Zanger-Tishler

Researcher

Michael Zanger-Tishler is a PhD candidate in sociology and social policy at Harvard, and a fellow at Harvard's Multidisciplinary Program in Inequality Social Policy. Michael is interested in the role that noisy data and missing data play in our study of inequality, and studies from a methodological perspective how we deal with these issues and from a theoretical perspective how we end up with data sets that have these issues. Michael received his BA from Yale University in Ethics, Politics and Economics and Modern Middle East Studies (where he also took many math and statistics courses) and spent the 2018-2019 academic year as a CASA Arabic fellow living in Amman Jordan.

Affiliates

Julian Nyarko

Researcher

Julian Nyarko is an Associate Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, where he explores how new computational methods can be used to study questions of legal and social scientific importance. He is particularly interested in the use of computational linguistics to study contract law and design. In addition, he frequently collaborates with other researchers to work on projects across a diverse group of subjects, including causal inference, algorithmic fairness and criminal justice.

Cheryl Phillips

Researcher

Cheryl Phillips teaches data journalism at Stanford University and co-founded the Stanford Open Policing Project in 2017. She worked at The Seattle Times from 2002-14, focusing on data and investigations. In Seattle, she twice worked on breaking news stories which received a Pulitzer and was twice on teams that were Pulitzer finalists. She has worked at USA Today, and at newspapers in Michigan, Montana and Texas. She is a former board president of Investigative Reporters and Editors. She is married to Catherine and in their free time, they try to keep up with with their twin sons.

Ravi Shroff

Researcher

Ravi Shroff is an assistant professor of applied statistics and urban informatics at New York University's Steinhardt School and Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP). His research involves the development and application of statistical and computational methods to issues in criminal justice and child welfare. Ravi studied mathematics at UC San Diego (M.S. and Ph.D.) and applied urban science and informatics at CUSP (M.S.), and mathematics and economics at the University of Washington (B.S.). In his free time, Ravi enjoys cooking and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Former

Sophie Allen

Researcher

Leila Barghouty

Data Journalist

William Cai

Researcher

Ismael Castro

Intern

Christophe Charles

Intern

Sam Corbett-Davies

Researcher

Ruben Cuevas

Undergraduate Fellow

Elan Dagenais

Data Scientist

Feona Dong

Undergraduate Fellow

Ro Encarnacion

Engineer

Alanna Flores

Undergraduate Fellow

Sajel Galhotra

Undergraduate Fellow

Marissa Gerchick

Data Scientist

Taylore Givens

Undergraduate Fellow

Andrea Gonzalez

Intern

Amelia Goodman

Engineer

Jamie Hamilton

Intern

Jane Lee

Intern

Daniel Jenson

Engineer

Jongbin Jung

Researcher

Julia Kadie

Undergraduate Fellow

Walter Kim

Engineer

Allison Koenecke

Researcher

Darry'elle Lee

Intern

Emily Lemmerman

Researcher

Zhiyuan “Jerry” Lin

Researcher

Nancy Mandujano

Engineer

Amara Okoli

Undergraduate Fellow

Ayesha Zarah Omarali

Engineering Intern

Rebecca Pattichis

Intern

Kianie Ramirez

Intern

Sam Robertson

Researcher

Hao Sheng

Researcher

Amy Shoemaker

Data Scientist

Camelia Simoiu

Researcher

Sabina Tomkins

Postdoc

Connor Toups

Intern

Sarah Emma Vicol

Intern

Alissa Vuillier

Undergraduate Fellow

Keniel Yao

Data Scientist