Staff

Dana is a student at Barnard College of Columbia University, interested in public policy, global affairs, and civic engagement. She is pursuing a major in Political Science and double-minoring in Economics and Spanish. She's actively involved with POLIS, Columbia’s foremost pre-professional government society, where I contribute to programming, outreach, and community-building around political and policy issues.

She also brings experience in marketing and communications, including social media management, digital outreach, and messaging strategy to engage diverse audiences and promote events and initiatives. She is passionate about equity, leadership, and building spaces that encourage thoughtful dialogue and action. Always eager to learn, collaborate, and connect with others interested in politics, policy, and social impact.

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Sophie Cheng is a senior at Barnard College studying Cognitive Science with minors in Computer Science and Economics. She joined the BRL as a sophomore and has enjoyed supporting faculty research across a range of business topics and industries. In the future, she hopes to work in a role that sits the intersection of business strategy and technology. In her free time, she loves a good board game night and baking.

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Sania Cunningham, a senior at Barnard College studying neuroscience and behavior and africana studies, has been a part of the behavioral research lab since her sophomore year. Her research interests include how chronically stressful environmental influences (such as trauma or social neglect) may alter or elucidate the neural circuitry of high-level social behaviors and interactions. She is particularly drawn to decision-making and adaptive or maladaptive patterns of behavior.

In her free time, Sania enjoys crocheting, tutoring elementary school students, and walking in Riverside park.

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Alexis Curisaca is a sophomore at Columbia College studying Economics-Political Science. He is passionate about the intersection between Finance and Government, especially focusing on regulation. He is interested in exploring how decision-making works in unique scenarios and how it could apply in future policy-making. Outside of academics, he likes listening to jazz, trying new restaurants, and traveling.

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Riley Kim is a sophomore at Columbia University studying Cognitive Science and Sociology. Her research interests include human decision-making, cognitive behavior, and how social and institutional environments shape individual choices. She is particularly interested in how people interpret information, form beliefs, and make judgments under uncertainty. Outside of academics, Riley enjoys taking long walks, reading philosophy books, and sailing.

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Sarya Mouchbahani is a senior at Barnard College studying Economics and Mathematics and Political Science. She has also been accepted into Columbia’s 4+1 program and is pursuing an M.S. in Management Science and Engineering through the Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research. Her interests center on decision-making, markets, and how individuals and institutions process information under uncertainty. 

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Grace Oleru is a sophomore at Barnard College, majoring in Psychology on the pre-medical track. Her research interests include consumer decision-making, marketing dynamics, and health communications. She is especially passionate about exploring how strategic message framing and corporate social responsibility influence human behavior, public health narratives, and choices across diverse communities. Outside of academics, Grace enjoys watching films and volunteering.   

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Steven is a junior at Columbia College studying Economics and Physics. He is hoping to pursue a PhD or JD after graduation. Interested in macroeconomics, game theory, and IP law. He is an avid fan of FC Barcelona and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

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Toshini Agrawal is currently pursuing MS in Data Science and focuses on applied data science and AI systems, with hands-on experience developing scalable analytics and machine learning pipelines. She is interested in translating complex data into systems that support real decision-making. When she’s not working, you’ll likely find her playing badminton or seeking out an adventure park.

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Pauline is a master's student in the IEOR department at Columbia, focusing on Data Science and Business Analytics. She holds an Engineering degree from Arts et Métiers ParisTech in France, with a background in mathematics, computer science, and machine learning. Prior to Columbia, she worked as an AI & Data Solutions Lead Engineer and completed a summer internship as a Deployment Strategist at Palantir in New York.

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Paul is an MA student in Statistics from Providence, Rhode Island. He graduated Dartmouth with a degree in Mathematics, and then spent 1 year working as an energy trading analyst in Texas. He is now back in graduate school and hopes to pursue a PhD. He is broadly interested in the intersection of statistics, economics, and computing. In his free time, He likes to play tennis, do jiu jitsu, read and cook/eat.

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Sanket Sandip Dangle is an M.S. student in Computer Science at Columbia University on the Machine Learning track. His work centers on quantitative research and statistical modeling of financial data, including systematic equity strategies, market microstructure, and derivatives pricing. Before Columbia, he completed a B.Tech. in Computer Engineering with Honors in Data Science and worked as a quantitative research intern at Stratzy in Mumbai. At the BRL, he supports faculty research as a Data Analyst.

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Jingyuan Gao is an M.S. in Business Analytics student at Columbia University. His interests include data analytics, machine learning, large language models, and AI-assisted fact-checking. He currently supports research projects at Columbia Business School as a Research Analyst.

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Saanvi is a Senior at Barnard studying Economics. She supports faculty research projects at the Behavioral Research Lab by building data infrastructure, optimizing backend workflows, and running quantitative analysis with high proficiency in Python, Stata, and SQL. Driven by a passion for uncovering entrepreneurial insights hidden within complex datasets, she loves using data-driven frameworks to explore how business ecosystems evolve and thrive. In her free time, Saanvi enjoys traveling, trying out new restaurants, and getting surprisingly competitive over board games!

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Maria Protogerou is a first-year Master's student in Statistics at Columbia University. She recently earned her B.S. in Applied Mathematics, with a concentration in Data Science, from the University of Washington. Maria has a strong background in mathematics, data science, and machine learning, and her research interests include game theory, reinforcement learning, and decision-making under uncertainty. Outside of her academic pursuits, she enjoys exploring New York City, working out, reading, and curating outfits.

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Smit Thakare is a Master's student in Computer Science (Machine Learning track) at Columbia University, graduating in December 2026. He currently serves as a Data Analyst at the Behavioral Research Lab at Columbia Business School. His research background includes work in Professor Kathleen McKeown's NLP lab, where he contributed to projects on continual learning and multilingual emotion detection. During his time at Columbia, Smit has also interned as an AI Product Management Intern at S&P Global, where he built an agentic reconciliation pipeline for financial data workflows, and as a software engineering intern at Electra Enterprises. His work spans natural language processing, applied machine learning, and human-AI interaction, with a particular interest in how AI agents can be applied to real-world decision-making and research problems.

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George is a first year MSCS student at Columbia focusing on machine learning, computer vision and robotics. He is also a part time data analyst for Columbia Business School. Feel free to connect him on LinkedIn.

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Jiabei Wang is an M.A. student in Statistics at Columbia University and a research assistant at Columbia Business School. Her research interests include empirical asset pricing and machine learning.

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Cheryl Yan is an M.S. student in Financial Engineering at Columbia SEAS, where she also earned her B.S. in the same field. She has a strong foundation in exploratory data analysis, machine learning, and statistical modeling, and is proficient in Python, R, and SQL. Cheryl brings hands-on experiences applying data analytics and optimization methods across financial services, consulting, and healthcare operations. 

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Willow is a graduate student pursuing a Master of Science in Computer Science (Machine Learning Track) at Columbia University. This past summer, she worked with Professor Emmanuel Yimfor on empirical finance research at Columbia Business School. Outside of research, she enjoys exploring NYC, trying new food spots, photography, and traveling.

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