Speaker Biography
Berk Ustun is an Assistant Professor of Data Science and Computer Science at UCSD. His group develops methods to promote the adoption and safety of machine learning. His research focuses on solving pressing problems related to fairness, interpretability, reliability, and governance in domains like medicine, consumer finance, and the physical sciences.
Berk has developed machine learning systems that are adopted by major healthcare providers for hospital readmissions prediction, seizure prediction, and ADHD screening. He also co-founded Petal, a fintech company that uses machine learning to broaden credit access. His research has been recognized by major awards, including the Kavli Fellowship from the National Academies of Sciences and the INFORMS Informative Applications in Analytics Award in 2016 and 2019.
Prior to his appointment, Berk held research positions at Google AI and the Harvard Center for Research on Computation and Society. He received a PhD in Computer Science from MIT and Bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Operations Research from UC Berkeley.
