I am currently a second year PhD student at MIT in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. I’m fascinated by the complexity of the human brain and its ability to achieve functions that still seem ethereal. My PhD research is in Computational Neuroscience, where I look to the biological brains of small organisms for inspiration to develop novel technologies. My research interests range from augmenting existing brain-inspired technology (e.g. neural networks) with the latest insights of experimental neuroscience, to the engineering of transformative neurotechnology (e.g. “brain-on-chip” devices). Besides neuroscience, I am also interested in exploring areas in biotechnology, especially natural computing and bioinformatics. I enjoy mentoring young researchers, especially under-represented minorities in STEM, so feel free to email me to ask about opportunities to work with me.

My current research interest

How do small organisms exhibit diverse and complex behaviors despite having only a few hundreds to thousands of neurons? If we understood how such hefty computations are implemented in these miniature neural circuits, we could develop more compact and efficient architectures for artificial intelligence (AI). My current research focuses on studying this idea using C. elegans, a model organism in sytems neuroscience with just 302 neurons. A long-term proof-of-concept goal of this work would be to create an automonous, virtual nematode pet! This would span all three levels of Marr’s level of analysis: implementing the neural circuitry (implementation) and simulating the neural activity (algorithm) and behavior (computation) of a C. elegans agent in a digital computer.

My background and history

Before starting a Ph.D program at MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, I received a B.S. in Computation and Cognition from the very same department and school. Before that, I graduated from primary school, secondary school, and A-Level community college on the tiny Caribbean island of St. Lucia, where I am from.

My non-academic life

I consume literature and especially enjoy reading fiction. I enjoy the occasional, mildly strenuous hike. I feel a great thrill when traveling and would like to visit many more countries in the future.