“There’s so much information waiting to be unlocked, verified, and made available to help develop better models.”

🎧 Fun fact: Naren measures his commute in podcast episodes, not miles!

#NSFCOMPASS #MeetTheTeam #AIResearch #STEM #PandemicPreparedness

As a Co-Investigator with the NSF COMPASS Center, he’s exploring how AI and machine learning can extract and organize data from scientific studies to improve models of virus inactivation.

“It’s exciting to help develop organoid models that can advance our understanding of infection and immunity while supporting COMPASS’s mission to forecast and control future pandemics.”

🌱 Fun fact: Padma loves classical music and gardening!

#NSFCOMPASS #MeetTheTeam #PandemicResearch #STEM

Her research focuses on engineered tissues, organoids, biomaterials, and stem cell differentiation. At COMPASS, she’s helping design organoids that use pluripotent stem cells and novel biomaterials to model how infections work.

🌍 Fun fact: His family has roots in four countries–UK, Netherlands, France, and USA!

#COMPASSCenter #OrganoidResearch #StemCells #PandemicScience

At COMPASS, Dr. Bishop works with a diverse team of scientists to advance pandemic prediction and prevention.

“It is wonderful to work closely together with a diverse set of scientists… to predict and prevent future global pandemics.”

Fun fact: She started her career as a diagnostician–and now focuses on research to solve the toughest diagnostic problems.

#COMPASSCenter #SciSky #OneHealth #VectorBiology #PathogenGenomics #Cornell #VirusResearch

At COMPASS, she’s teaming up with Dr. Kelly Speer to ask a bold question: could ticks spread mosquito-borne viruses? Their work is reshaping how we think about emergence.

“We are doing the groundwork to determine if ticks can spread mosquito-borne viruses as a new way to think about emergence.”

🌍 Fun fact: She once cooked and ate hippo along the Kavango River!

#COMPASSCenter #VirginiaTech #PandemicScience #PublicHealth

At COMPASS, Dr. Gerdes integrates lived experiences into pandemic science and studies how the public perceives pandemic risks–building more inclusive and trusted health responses.

“This project shows the power of humanists and scientists coming together to solve wicked challenges.”

Her research unpacks how people interpret risk messages about infectious disease, and her forthcoming book, "Infectious Urgency," explores how urgency rhetorics shape international public health responses.

“We’re working to evaluate and enhance how interdisciplinary knowledge around pandemics is produced and integrated within COMPASS and across science.”

#COMPASSCenter #ScienceOfScience #KnowledgeIntegration #PandemicResearch #Cornell #InterdisciplinaryScience #InformationScience

His team is developing data-driven tools to improve how knowledge about pandemics is created, shared, and connected across disciplines.

Fun fact: He’s a Formula 1 racing fan–and a loyal supporter of Scuderia Ferrari 🏁🏎️

#COMPASSCenter #SciSky #JumpThrust #VirusResearch #InfectiousDiseases #Formula1Fan #Ferrari #Virology #UMichigan

At COMPASS, he’s identifying viral traits that control host range, helping train foundation models that can predict future zoonotic threats.

“What excites me most about COMPASS is learning how machine learning can help solve major problems in infectious diseases.”

He studies how viruses mutate and evolve–tracking poliovirus, flu, and SARS-CoV-2 using advanced sequencing to better understand how viruses spread from person to person and across communities.

#COMPASSCenter #SciSky #JumpThrust #AIForGood #KnowledgeGuidedML #ZoonoticViruses #PandemicPrediction #VirginiaTech