SigmaCamp Next 2024: Faculty

Alexander Brook is a biostatistician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Lecturer in Radiology in Harvard Medical School. He has a PhD in Applied Mathematics, and used to work in computer vision. Currently, his job is to work with clinical researchers to help them design their research, collect and analyze their data, and report the results.

Andrey is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Oxford University and has been at SigmaCamp since the very beginning. He completed his PhD in Mathematics at MIT. Andrey am always open to chat about math, physics, or computer science! He greatly enjoy board games, puzzles, square dancing, and contra. Andrey's research is in quantum computing and quantum information theory. He am investigating how to reformulate the study of quantum error-correcting codes by using graphs.

Alexander Kirillov is a professor in the Math Department of Stony Brook University. His research is in representation theory, quantum invariants of knots and low-dimensional manifolds, and Topological Field Theory. He has been working with high school children, teaching math circles and gifted classes since his own high school graduation. In addition to math, he also enjoys hiking, volleyball, and robotics - he is the coach of Islandbots robotics club.

I am currently a grad student studying quantum gravity and string theory, primarily based at Stanford University but also spending a lot of time at the University of Cambridge in the UK. My primary research interests are in how the fabric of spacetime emerges from strongly interacting chaotic quantum systems, and in the nature of black hole microstates within these systems. At Sigma this year I will teach two semilabs - one on Cosmology (the study of the history and eventual fate of our universe) and one on black holes and how we think about them from both a classical and a quantum perspective.

I am always very approachable, especially if you want to chat about physics or hear me rant about tennis :-)

Zohar is a Professor at Simons Center for Geometry and Physics, Stony Brook University, NY. He studied at the Weizmann Institute in Israel, where he received his PhD in 2008. Later he joined the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. In 2011 Zohar returned to the Weizmann Institute, and in 2017 joined the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics. His research is on Quantum Field Theory, which has applications on a wide variety of fields in physics, including Particle Physics and Condensed Matter Physics.

My PhD work was related to making nanoscale optical structures and manipulating quantum states of individuals atoms, with the goal of contributing to the world-wide effort on making optical quantum computers -- I'm continuing along the same lines now as postdoc. When I go to Sigma, I like to bring with me various tech contraptions so we can take them apart. I don't know yet what we will breaking into this year. Together with Melissa Guidry, I teach the Optics semilab. This year, we will be using light to do measurements and computations, in particular, image processing using Fourier transforms.

I obtained my PhD in 2022 in plasma physics and now I spend my “work” days as postdoc thinking about astrophysical fluid dynamics of planets, stars and compact objects, though I am broadly fascinated by emergent phenomenon. I love that finding out the governing equations is only the beginning. Back on our home planet, I enjoy hiking, improv comedy, and playing soccer under reasonable gravitational and thermodynamic conditions.

Dr. Olga R Brook is a diagnostic and interventional radiologist. She serves as section chief of Abdominal Radiology and vice chair of Research at the Department of Radiology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. She is an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School and has authored over 150 publications. Her research focuses on minimally invasive procedures, advanced CT techniques, and improvement in women’s health interventions. This year, Olga will be teaching the "From Heart Rhythms to Peanut Allergies: An Introduction to the Science of Medicine" semilab.

Dr. Galkin received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 2001 at Moscow State University and completed postdoctoral studies at Frankfurt University and University College London. In 2009 he established his research group at Queen's University Belfast, UK. In 2017 he moved to the US and currently he is an Associate Professor in Neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Galkin research lab studies the energy metabolism and mechanistic details of cellular injury during cardiovascular diseases or neurodegeneration.

Lena is a molecular biologist. The primary subject of her interest is the protein-DNA interactions, and Lena has studied many of them using such state-of-the-art techniques as X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, and various spectroscopic methods. However, during her work, Lena came to the conclusion that even the most sophisticated device does not make you smarter: Despite the stunning technological progress, humans’ own brains are still their most powerful tool. The thing Lena likes the most is the company of intellectually like-minded people. Lena and her friends got together every summer to talk about science, art, and music. Then they realized that their group would be incomplete without a young generation, so they invited motivated and talented kids to join their company, which they called Sigma. We are inviting you to become a part of our community!

Victor has a Ms.C. in physical chemistry and is an enthusiast of academic competitions, in which he competed at international level as a student. Currently, he is a chemistry teacher at Colegio Etapa, in Brazil, and an academic advisor for Chemistry Olympiads. He was the Brazilian team leader in three International Junior Science Olympiads and two Iberoamerican Chemistry Olympiads, and personally trained students that collectively won 37 international medals. Besides chemistry and teaching, Victor is also a cat aficionado. Don’t hesitate to ask him about his cats.

Alina received her PhD in synthetic organic chemistry with twice-Nobel Prize laureate K. Barry Sharpless in 2006. Her work on organic azides and click chemistry was part of Sharpless' 2022 Nobel Prize and has been applied worldwide in such diverse fields as drug discovery, materials science, and electronics. Since 2008, Alina has been working as a patent agent in a law firm, helping pharmaceutical, chemical, and biotech clients

The focus of Mark Lukin's scientific interest are nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) - the molecules responsible for storage and transfer of hereditary information in living organisms. How does DNA get copied? What happens when DNA molecules breaks? To answer these, as well as many other questions, Mark needs to prepare artificial (modified) nucleic acids and their building blocks, the crazy compounds that normally do not exist in nature. The only way obtain them is to do a chemical synthesis, the thing Mark likes the most. Besides that, Mark loves music, history, Greek philosophy, and science fiction. When he was young, he loved to do simple but spectacular chemical experiments. Recently, he realized he still loves to do that.

Eugene Pinkhassik graduated from Kazan State University in Russia and obtained his PhD in Chemistry in the Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague, Czech Republic. After a visiting scientist stay in Parma, Italy and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Colorado, Boulder, he began an independent faculty career. He is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Connecticut. His research interests focus on making nanomaterials and nanodevices with new and superior properties to address current problems in energy-related technologies, medical imaging and treatment, and environmental sensing.

Hello! I am Iris and I am currently finishing my Master's in Business Analytics at MIT Sloan School of Management while also working on my capstone project with Massachusetts Financial Services. I am really interested in data science and in the business side of the tech industry, specifically how we can make product development and production more efficient. I am highly involved in STEM tutoring for girls and how to better encourage more women to pursue their STEM careers. Outside of academics, I love music, dance, art, and baking. I am excited to help make this week unforgettable for all of you!

Hi there! I'm Nikita, a software engineer at Audible.

In my day job, I work on bringing audiobooks to people through voice assistants like Alexa. With recent advances in AI, it is incredibly exciting to be a part of the transformation of our day-to-day life from the inside.

I have a degree in Computer Science and Maths from Saint-Petersburg University, where I specialised in game theory and language processing. I'm also a skilled juggler and slackliner, and I love to share my knowledge and skills with others.

Yuri Salkinder’s career spanned academia, telecommunications and financial technology. Yuri started in research in human-computer interaction, then moved on to help create software development tools for Voice response systems. He participated in creation of some standards in wireless messaging. Nowadays Yuri is dealing with technology that fuels financial markets. Yuri loves art, music, movies and good math puzzles. Yuri has been a member of the Sigma Camp staff since 2013 and is returning this summer.

I earned my Master's degree in Architecture from Moscow State University of Civil Engineering and worked as an architect for seven years participating in residential, recreational, and urban development projects. Recently, I pivoted my career to Interface and User Experience Design, following my passion for design, technology, and real-world problem-solving. In addition to my professional pursuits, I also teach art to children from first to third grade at SchoolNova. This role allows me to share my love of creativity with the next generation and inspire them to express themselves through art. In my spare time, I enjoy biking, beachcombing, and taking pictures of accidental art.

Hello, I am Natalia, a portrait photographer on Long Island, New York, and image creator for small businesses and services.
I am proud to photograph SigmaCamp from 2014.
I love capturing human relations, characters, and emotions, especially when people learn new things, experience the joy of discovery, and share their life's passions.
All of those are abundant at SigmaCamp, that’s why I’m so excited to be part of it.