I obtained my M.S and Ph.D degrees from Duke Univ. (where I received the Best PhD Dissertation Award at CS Dept), and B.S. degree from Tsinghua Univ (graduated with First Class Honors). From 2004-2005, I was a post-doctoral researcher at Geometric Computing lab in Stanford Univ from 2004-2005. Prior to joining UCSD, I was a Professor in the Computer Science and Engineering Department at the Ohio State University. I co-directed the Foundations of Data Science Research Community of Practice (CoP) at Translational Data Analytics Institute (TDAI@OSU) from 2018-2020. I received DOE (Dept. of Energy) Career award in 2006, and NSF (National Science Foundation) Career award in 2008. I am on the editorial board for SICOMP, JoCG, and CGTA. I currently serve on the Computational Geometry Steering Committee, as well as the AATRN Advisory Committee. I also serve on SIGACT CATCS Committee, and AWM (Association for Women in Mathematics) Meetings Committee.
New Book Announcement! Together with my collaborator Tamal K. Dey, our new book Computational Topology for Data Analysis will be published by Cambridge University Press. You can download a e-copy here. A dedicated website is here . Note that this pre-publicaton version is free to view and download for personal use only.
I primarily work in the fields of Computational geometry, applied topology, as well as topological and geometric data analysis (TGDA). My work lies at the intersection of computer science (especially algorithms) and applied mathematics (especially applied topology, discrete and combinatorial geometry). I am particularly interested in developing effective and theoretically justified algorithms for data / shape analysis using geometric and topological ideas and methods, as well as to integrate such methods with machine learning frameworks. I aim to both provide theoretical understanding of various computational methods developed, and to apply them to practical domains, including computational biology, computational neuroanatomy, material science, computer graphics and visualization.
Family: Here is a link to my husband Misha Belkin, and our two wonderful children.
