On Wednesday, April 30, 2025, the Massive Data Institute of the McCourt School of Public Policy will host the MDI Scholars Research Showcase Spring 2025. MDI Scholars will present their research in the Healey Family Student Center Social Room at Georgetown University from 1:00-2:30 pm, followed by a reception.
The event begins with formal remarks by College of Arts & Sciences Interim Dean Andrew Sobanet and Massive Data Institute Director Lisa Singh followed by student project teams presenting “flash talks” — a 60-second summary of their research. After the flash talks, MDI Scholar project teams will present their research posters. The program will be followed by a reception.
To learn more about the research projects that the MDI Scholars contributed to this semester, please check out: https://mdi.georgetown.edu/announcements/mdiresearch-spring2025
Accommodations: This event is wheelchair accessible. Accommodation requests related to a disability should be made by April 21, 2025 to Mari Bailey at mdiresearch@georgetown.edu. A good faith effort will be made to fulfill requests made after April 21.
Transportation: Georgetown University is accessible for faculty, staff, students and visitors through many convenient transportation options, including our free university shuttle, public transportation, bicycling, carsharing and other means. Learn more about transportation options here. (new window)
See here (new window) (Interactive map) or here (new window) (PDF) for a Georgetown University campus map.
Taxi / Ridesharing: The recommended drop-off location is at the front gates of campus. Please inform your driver that your destination is Georgetown University or use the address 3700 O St. NW, Washington, DC 20057. Additional information on taxi / ride sharing is available here. (new window)
Visitor Parking: If you decide to drive to campus, please note there is construction happening on campus on the north side of campus. Visitor parking is available at Southwest Garage (Use 3611 Canal Road as the address for directions using GPS). Additional information on visitor parking is available here (new window).
About the MDI Scholars Program: The MDI Scholars program is an experiential learning opportunity for undergraduate and Master’s students to work on interdisciplinary research projects with professors and practitioners. These projects connect new forms of data and/or large-scale computing infrastructure to different public policy questions.
About the Massive Data Institute (MDI): At Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy, the Massive Data Institute (MDI) is an interdisciplinary research institute that connects experts across computer science, data science, public health, public policy, and social science to tackle societal scale issues and impact public policy in ways that improves people’s lives through responsible evidence-based research. For more information on MDI, please visit https://mdi.georgetown.edu/
MDI Scholar Research Showcase Poster Titles (titles subject to change; as of 30 April 2025)
Predicting Injury Severity from Automated Driving Systems (ADS) Incidents
Gabriel Soto, McCourt School of Public Policy, Data Science for Public Policy ’25
Collaborator(s): Robin Dillon-Merrill, Ph.D.
A.I. in Art: Perceptions, Values, & Rights
Hexuan “Judy” Wang, Georgetown College, Political Economics and Art ’27
Collaborator(s): Toni-Lee Sangastiano, Ph.D., Kristelia García, J.D., Elissa Redmiles, Ph.D., Wisdom Obinna, Cecile Duncan
Partner Organization(s) and Collaborator(s): Fritz Family Fellowship, Gabriel Lima, Ph.D. (Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy), Nina Grgic-Hlaca, Ph.D. (Max Planck Institute for Software Systems)
Mapping Election Officials’ Response to a High-Misinfo & Low Trust Environment during the 2024 U.S. Election
Jorge Bris Moreno, Georgetown School of Arts & Sciences, Data Science and Analytics ’25
Collaborator(s): Thessalia Merivaki, Ph.D.
Student Researchers: Matt Steinberg, Priyasha Chakravarti, Kersyn McBride, Adi Vishahan, Santiago Vidal
Partner Organization(s) and Collaborator(s): Connecticut College, Algorithmic Transparency Institute (ATI.io)
Can AI Tools Generate Digital Replicas?
Gordon Grandbouche, Georgetown College, Mathematics and Computer Science, Ethics & Society ’27
Collaborator(s): Elissa Redmiles, Ph.D. Sarah Adel Bargal, Ph.D., Rupayan Mallick, Ph.D., Eric Zeng, Ph.D.
Partner Organization(s) and Collaborator(s): Fritz Family Fellowship
Mapping Narratives By and About Venezuelan Migrants in Colombia
Stacy Che, Georgetown School of Arts & Sciences, Data Science and Analytics ’26
Gabriella Cova, McCourt School of Public Policy, Master of Public Policy ’26
Collaborator(s): Nejla Asmovic, Ph.D.
Detecting US Election Voting Misinformation on Social Media
Amy Li, Walsh School of Foreign Service, Business and Global Affairs/French and Statistics ’26
Ann Lian, McCourt School of Public Policy, Data Science for Public Policy ’25
Rich Pihlstrom, Georgetown School of Arts & Sciences, Data Science Science and Analytics ’25
Collaborator(s): Lisa Singh, Ph.D., Sejin Paik, Ph.D., Mohamed Ahmed
Evaluating the Deployment and Usability of PySyft for Privacy-Preserving Data Science
Victor Chen, Georgetown College, Computer Science ’27
Collaborator(s): Stephanie Straus, M.Ed., Amy O’Hara, Ph.D.
Image Inpainting using Low Rank Adaptor
Hannah Kim, Georgetown School of Arts & Sciences, Data Science and Analytics ’25
Collaborator(s): Sarah Adel Bargal, Ph.D., Rupayan Mallick, Ph.D., Radha Venkatagiri, Ph.D.
Understanding Edge Cases: Simulated Scenarios for Autonomous Vehicles
Vagdevi Sahasra Bandaru, Georgetown School of Arts & Sciences, Computer Science ’25
Collaborator(s): Robin Dillon-Merrill, Ph.D., Babak Zafari, Ph.D.
Measuring and Modeling Perceived Humanness in AI-Generated Political Discourse
Rebecca Ansell, Georgetown School of Arts & Sciences, Computer Science ’25
Collaborator(s): Lisa Singh, Ph.D., Tiago Ventura, Ph.D., Leticia Bode, Ph.D., Sejin Paik, Ph.D., Autumn Toney-Wails
Investigating Company Structure and Market Dynamics of Medicaid Managed Care Organizations in the United States between 2016 and 2021
Shun Liu, McCourt School of Public Policy, Data Science for Public Policy ’25
Collaborator(s): Maria Alva, Ph.D.
Partner Organization(s) and Collaborator(s): Urban Institute, University of Central Florida
Balancing Public Health Need and Privacy Concerns
Yundi “Wendy” Shi, McCourt School of Public Policy, Data Science for Public Policy ’25
Collaborator(s): Giulia Pullano, Ph.D, Shweta Bansal, Ph.D., Kobbi Nissim, Ph.D.
Partner Organization(s) and Collaborator(s): Fritz Family Fellowship
Evaluating the Design and Development of RAG Systems
Henry Deng, Georgetown College, Computer Science and Mathematics (major), Economics (minor) ’26
Tabitha Macharia, Georgetown College, Computer Science ’26
Collaborator(s): Lisa Singh, Ph.D., Autumn Toney-Wails
Extending CoxNet: Predicting Success In PIAAC Digital Assessments
Binhui Chen, Georgetown School of Arts & Sciences, Data Science and Analytics ’25
William McGloin, Georgetown School of Arts & Sciences, Data Science and Analytics ’25
Collaborator(s): Qiwei Britt He, Ph.D., Ioannis Ziogas, Ph.D.
Data Collection from Distributed Sensitive Sources
Maggie Shen, Georgetown College, Mathematics & Computer Science ’26
Joshua Wiesenfeld, Georgetown College, Computer Science & Tech, Ethics and Society ’25
Collaborator(s): Micah Sherr, Ph.D., Lisa Singh, Ph.D.
Partner Organization(s) and Collaborator(s): Fritz Family Fellowship
What Determines Selective Enforcement? An Analysis of Race and Police Stops
Ziwen “Jasmine” Jia, McCourt School of Public Policy, Data Science for Public Policy ’25
Collaborator(s): Andrea Headley, Ph.D.
Partner Organization(s) and Collaborator(s): Georgetown Law Criminal Justice Clinic
Measuring Incumbent’s Positioning in Elections from Tweets Data
Quan Yuan, Georgetown School of Arts & Sciences, Data Science and Analytics ’25
Collaborator(s): Michael Bailey, Ph.D.
Watching the Watchers: Analyzing Tracking Apps
Ankita Sharma, Georgetown College, Computer Science; Math ’25
Collaborator(s): Micah Sherr, Ph.D., Lisa Singh, Ph.D.
Partner Organization(s) and Collaborator(s): Fritz Family Fellowship, Center on Privacy and Technology, and Georgetown Law
Analyzing the Presentation and Perception of DNA Evidence in Court
Jeffrey Gao, Walsh School of Foreign Service, Mathematics & Computer Science ’25
Miranda Xiong, Georgetown School of Arts & Sciences, History & Classics ’25
Collaborator(s): Lucy Qin, Ph.D., Elissa Redmiles, Ph.D.
Partner Organization(s) and Collaborator(s): Center for Privacy and Technology, Fritz Family Fellowship
Examining Tensions Among Racial Advocacy Groups Through Fightin’ Words Analysis
Zining Wang, Georgetown School of Arts & Sciences, Data Science and Analytics ’25
Collaborator(s): Helge Marahrens, Ph.D.
Partner Organization(s) and Collaborator(s): Muna Adem, Ph.D. (University of Maryland), Dina Okamoto, Ph.D. (Indiana University)
Topic Analysis of Immigration Policy in Executive Orders and Other Media
Adrian David Frauca, Georgetown College, Computer Science & Mathematics ’27
Sheryn Livingstone, Walsh School of Foreign Service, Business and Global Affairs & Statistics ’26
Katie Merrill, Georgetown College, Computer Science ’27
Sergio Rodriguez Cifuentes, Walsh School of Foreign Service, International Economics/Statistics ’25
Lauren Stipe, Walsh School of Foreign Service, STIA, International Development ’25
Mandy Sun, Georgetown College, Computer Science, Film and Media Studies ’25
Collaborator(s): Lisa Singh, Ph.D., Katharine Donato, Ph.D., Ali Arab, Ph.D., Helge Marahrens, Ph.D.
Partner Organization(s) and Collaborator(s): Institute for the Study of International Migration (ISIM), UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)