Dr. Payel Das is a Principal Research Staff Member and manager in the Trusted AI Department of IBM Thomas J Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY. She is also an adjunct associate professor at the department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics (APAM), Columbia University and an IBM Master Inventor.  She is also the principal investigator of AI Horizons Network IBM-University of Montreal partnership. She received Ph.D. degree from Rice University, Houston in 2007, where her thesis focused on statistical physics and machine learning.   She was a visiting fellow at the Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM) at UCLA and a visiting student in Princeton University. Her research interest is at the interface of artificial intelligence (AI), statistical physics, and neuroscience.  In her current role, she leads research on generative AI models and bio-inspired learning, the final goal being the development and deployment of  trustworthy and controllable machine systems that  enable acceleration in scientific and enterprise applications. Das has co-authored over 50 publications and several patent disclosures, and given dozens of invited talks. She has served in the editorial advisory board member of the ACS Central Science journal and in SUNY Stony Brook Advisory Board. Das is the recipient of IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award (the highest technical award at IBM), IBM Special Division Award, two IBM Research Division Awards, one IBM Eminence and Excellence Award, five IBM Invention Achievement Awards, and several US and EU-based government funding awards. Her work has been also recognized by Harvard Belfer Center's Technology and Public Purpose (TAPP) Project.