Mazdak Abulnaga is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Computer Science and AI Lab (CSAIL) and Harvard Medical School. His research is focused on the development of machine learning and geometry processing methods for applications in health care.
Currently, he is pursuing research in computational neuroscience, where he aims to develop a standardized representation of the brain for functional analysis. He is also pursuing research applications in structural biology.  Previously, he completed his Ph. D. in computer science at MIT. He was part of CSAIL, where he was co-advised by Prof. Polina Golland and Prof. Justin Solomon. During this time, he was part of the Medical Vision Group and the Geometric Data Processing Group. The primary focus of Dr. Abulnaga's Ph.D. research was on advancing machine learning and shape analysis for computer graphics and healthcare. His research focused on developing methods to study fetal-maternal health using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). He developed a standardized representation for the placenta which is currently being used by researchers globally to study several disorders in pregnancy affecting fetuses globally. During his PhD, he collaborated closely with physicians and clinical researchers at Boston Children's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, to deploy these methods for research in fetal-maternal health.  Dr. Abulnaga received several PhD fellowships the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, the NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship, the MathWorks Fellowship, and the Siebel Fellowship.  Beyond research, he has a particular interest in improving technical communication and mentorship. At MIT, he led several initiatives dedicated to supporting and improving research opportunities for students. You can find more details on his website: http://abulnaga.com/.