Ahnjili ZhuParris, PhD

Ahnjili ZhuParris is a data scientist, machine learning engineer, and cognitive neuroscientist specializing in applying machine learning techniques to generate insights from complex heterogeneous data. She was previously a data scientist at the Centre for Human Drug Research (CHDR), a leading clinical research organization, where she developed a data science library for analyzing clinical trial data.

While at CHDR, Ahnjili was also a PhD Candidate at Leiden University Medical Center and Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science, where her thesis focused on translating self-reported outcomes, physiological, and behavioral data into meaningful clinical insights. She created new biomarkers that enabled passive collection of informative health data during clinical trials and used those biomarkers to develop machine learning models that classified clinical diagnosis, estimated symptom severity, and predicted future clinical states.

Ahnjili’s prior research has also explored the impacts of LSD, methylphenidate, and mindfulness on cognitive flexibility. In addition to her academic pursuits, she hosts workshops and installations that aim to demystify the mechanisms, biases, applications, and potential challenges associated with AI algorithms.

Ahnjili holds a Bachelor's Degree in Neuroscience from Edinburgh University and a Master's Degree in Cognitive Neuroscience from Radboud University. She holds a PhD in Advanced Data Analytics from Leiden University.