Simons Society of Fellows: People

James Bartusek will be joining New York University as a postdoctoral fellow in the fall of 2024, hosted by Nir Bitansky. He is currently completing his Ph.D. in computer science at the University of California, Berkeley under the supervision of Sanjam Garg. His research interests are in the foundations of cryptography and quantum information. In particular, he studies how quantum technology can be utilized to improve information security and privacy, and he designs cryptographic protocols for safeguarding information and computation in the era of quantum computers.

Gily Ginosar is a postdoctoral fellow at New York University and the Flatiron Institution, in the groups of professors Dan Sanes, David Schneider and Alex Williams. She received her Ph.D. and M.Sc. in brain science from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, under the mentorship of professor Nachum Ulanovsky. Before that, Gily earned her B.Sc. in physics and cognitive sciences from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Samra Husremović will be a postdoctoral fellow in the group of professor Xavier Roy at Columbia University. Husremović holds a B.S. degree from Bates College and will graduate with a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley under the mentorship of professor Kwabena Bediako. Husremović’s research sits at the liminal space between chemistry, physics and engineering, with a focus on manipulating emergent physics in atomically thin crystals through targeted synthetic modifications. Her overarching goal is to achieve quantum states relevant to computing applications.

Tomas Kay is a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Dr. Daniel Kronauer at the Rockefeller University. His research uses ants to understand the evolution of social behavior and how social interactions shape behavior from molecular and evolutionary perspectives.

Zhanat Koshenov is a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Dr. Timothy Ryan at Weill Cornell Medicine. He received his B.S. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and his Ph.D. from Medical University of Graz, Austria. During his doctoral studies in the laboratory of Dr. Wolfgang Graier, Zhanat investigated cellular energy metabolism and its molecular fine tuning in cancer and pancreatic beta cells. His work demonstrated differential calcium ion regulation of mitochondrial energy production in health and disease. His work in pancreatic beta cells provides potential link between neurodegenerative diseases and diabetes. Zhanat was awarded Austrian Award of Excellence for his doctoral dissertation.

Luke Olsen is a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Dr. Paul Cohen at the Rockefeller University. He holds a B.S. in health promotion from Emporia State University, an M.S. in exercise physiology from the University of Kansas, and a Ph.D. in cell biology and physiology from the University of Kansas Medical Center.

Benjamin Pineau will be joining the Courant Institute at New York University as a postdoctoral fellow and will be working under the mentorship of professor Vlad Vicol. Pineau is completing his Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley under the supervision of professor Daniel Tataru. Previously, he completed his BSc. in mechanical engineering at the University of Alberta.

Wenzer Qin will join the Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics at New York University as a postdoctoral fellow working alongside professor Ken Van Tilburg. Wenzer is broadly interested in theoretical cosmology and dark matter phenomenology. One of the goals driving her research is to elucidate the fundamental nature of dark matter by understanding its impact on astrophysical and cosmological probes.

Hamed Rahimi Nasrabadi is a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Winrich Freiwald laboratory at Rockefeller University. He completed his Ph.D. in vision science at SUNY College of Optometry under the mentorship of Dr. Jose-Manuel Alonso. For his dissertation work, he received the SUNY Chancellor’s Distinguished Award.

Leslie Sibener is a postdoctoral fellow in Priya Rajasethupathy’s lab at Rockefeller University. She earned her Ph.D. in neurobiology and behavior at Columbia University with Dr. Rui Costa, and her B.S. in neuroscience and B.A. in creative writing from Johns Hopkins University. Leslie is interested in studying why specific memories are selected for long term storage, while others are forgotten.

Magdalena Siwek is a postdoctoral fellow in astrophysics at Columbia University in the Theory and High Energy Astrophysics divisions. She completed her B.Sc. and M.Sci. in astronomy and physics at the University of Glasgow in 2017, and her Ph.D. in astronomy at Harvard University in 2024.

Max Xu is joining the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University as a postdoctoral researcher. Xu completed his Ph.D. at Stanford University under the supervision of professor Kannan Soundararajan and professor Jacob Fox. Prior to Stanford, Xu received a M.A. in mathematics from the University of Cambridge, where he was based at Trinity College and mentored by professor Peter Varju. Before Cambridge, Xu obtained a B.S. in mathematics from University College London where his mentor was professor Andrew Granville.

Anastasia-Maria Zavitsanou is a postdoctoral research scientist in the laboratory of Dr. Ishmail Abdus-Saboor in the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute at Columbia University. She holds a B.Sc. in biochemistry from Imperial College in London and a Ph.D. in immunology from NYU School of Medicine.