PhD researcher
Alice Chen ↗
2023–present
Machine learning and cosmic structure formation, following earlier MSc work on cosmological structure.
University of Waterloo and Perimeter Institute.
People
Students, postdoctoral researchers, collaborators, and alumni who have shaped the work of the group.
Current members
PhD student
Ruolin Liu ↗
2023–present
Quadratic gravity, the Big Bang, quantum black holes, and quantum sensors.
Perimeter Institute and University of Waterloo.
MMath researcher
Hassan Subhi ↗
2025–2027
Gravitational-wave echoes in pulsar-timing data; co-supervised with Florian Girelli.
University of Waterloo.
Postdoctoral researcher
Shokoufe Faraji ↗
2024–2027
Strong gravity, quantum gravity, and accretion around black holes.
Perimeter Institute and University of Waterloo.
PhD student
Ohoud K. Alharbi ↗
2026–2030
PhD research in astrophysics and cosmology; topic to be confirmed.
University of Waterloo.
MSc student
Harrison (Haoye) Li ↗
2026–2028
MSc research in astrophysics and cosmology; topic to be confirmed.
University of Waterloo.
PhD student
Robin Oberfrank ↗
Current
Quantum-spacetime fluctuations and interferometric probes of quantum gravity; co-supervised by Niayesh Afshordi.
Perimeter Institute and University of Waterloo.
Undergraduate intern
Aliv Sahoo ↗
2026
Undergraduate research internship; project details to be confirmed.
Undergraduate student, Indian Institute of Science (IISc).
Postdoctoral researcher
Yusuke Manita ↗
2024–2026
Cosmology and related observational probes of fundamental physics.
Perimeter Institute.
PhD student (co-supervised)
Batia Friedman-Shaw ↗
2023–present
Cosmology, dark energy, vacuum decay, and galaxy-survey systematics.
Perimeter Institute and University of Waterloo.
Group roles were last reviewed in July 2026. Some external profiles do not expose stable portrait files; those entries use initials until a preferred portrait is supplied. New members, departures, projects, and destinations will be reconfirmed in the monthly group update.
Former group members
PhD researcher
Conner Dailey ↗
2020–2025
The initial-boundary-value problem in numerical relativity and the modelling of black-hole echoes.
Postdoctoral researcher, Friedrich Schiller University Jena.
PhD researcher
Matthew Robbins ↗
2017–2021
Gravitational waves, Bose–Einstein-condensate detectors, modified gravity, and black holes.
Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, University of Toronto.
Visiting PhD researcher
José Tomás Gálvez Ghersi ↗
2017–2018
Local-observer temperature in curved spacetime and modified gravity.
Associate Professor, Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología, Peru.
Visiting PhD researcher
Mohammad Hossein Zhoolideh Haghighi ↗
2016–2017
X-ray cooling flows, turbulent heating, and modified gravity.
Assistant Professor, K. N. Toosi University of Technology.
Co-supervised PhD researcher
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein ↗
2008–2010
Cosmic acceleration, quantum gravity, and early-universe cosmology.
Associate Professor, University of New Hampshire.
Postdoctoral researcher
Daniel Guariento ↗
2013–2017
Cosmological black holes, self-gravitating fields, and cosmic censorship.
Professor, Conestoga College.
Master’s researcher
Michael Meiers ↗
2014–2016
Universal horizons and Lorentz-violating black holes.
Walmart Global Tech.
Master’s researcher
Samantha Hergott ↗
2018–2020
Thermal links between the Big Bang and black holes.
PhD, York University and Perimeter Institute (2025); current appointment to be confirmed.
Visiting PhD researcher
Aditya Dhumuntarao ↗
2017–2018
Local temperature and quantum field theory in curved spacetime.
Postdoctoral Appointee, Sandia National Laboratories.
Visiting PhD and postdoctoral researcher
Naritaka Oshita ↗
2018–2021
Black-hole echoes and quantum black-hole seismology.
Lecturer, Kindai University; visiting researcher, RIKEN.
PhD researcher
Mehdi Saravani ↗
2011–2016
Nonlocality, causal sets, quantum field theory, and black holes.
Executive Director, Goldman Sachs, United Kingdom.
Undergraduate researcher
Hannah Dykaar ↗
2016
Gravitational-wave echoes from the abyss.
Postdoctoral Fellow, McGill University.
Master’s researcher
Tianyi Yang ↗
2018–2020
Cosmic filaments, Gaia kinematics, and thermal Sunyaev–Zel’dovich gas.
Postdoctoral researcher, Liverpool John Moores University.
PhD researcher
Mansour Karami ↗
2014–2018
Dark matter, microlensing, halo modelling, and Event Horizon Telescope methods.
Principal AI Engineer and Quantitative Developer, HOOPP.
PhD researcher
Razieh Pourhasan ↗
2011–2014
Holography, the Big Bang, and spacetime entanglement.
Data Scientist, Government of Canada.
Master’s and PhD researcher
Chiamaka Okoli ↗
2012–2018
Dark matter, halo concentration, and cosmological neutrino wakes.
In memoriam (died June 2019).
Postdoctoral researcher
Jesús Zavala ↗
2010–2013
Dark-matter phase space, structure, and galaxy formation.
Professor, University of Iceland.
PhD researcher
Elizabeth “Beth” Gould
2011–2017
Early-universe cosmology, quantum foundations, and holographic cosmology.
Former group member.
Master’s and PhD researcher
Yasaman K. Yazdi ↗
2011–2017
Vacuum states, entropy, black holes, and causal sets.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.
Postdoctoral researcher
Morag Scrimgeour ↗
2013–2014
Large-scale structure and cosmological neutrinos.
Scientist, Canon Medical Research Europe.
CITA National Fellow
Guilhem Lavaux ↗
2011–2013
Missing baryons, cosmic flows, and large-scale structure.
CNRS Research Director, Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris.
Undergraduate researcher
Zachary Elgood ↗
2016
Einstein–Aether black holes.
Former undergraduate researcher.
PhD researcher
Natacha Altamirano ↗
2014–2018
Quantum gravity, black holes, and holographic cosmology.
Senior Director, Data Science, Birch Hill Equity Partners.
PhD researcher
Nosiphiwo Zwane ↗
2013–2017
Causal-set phenomenology, dark energy, and Everpresent Lambda.
Lecturer and researcher, University of Eswatini.
Research Assistant
Eleanna Kolonia ↗
Former
Research assistance in astrophysics and cosmology.
PhD student, Swansea University.
Postdoctoral researcher
Shant Baghram ↗
2011–2012
Dark-matter halo substructure, pulsar timing, and modified gravity.
Professor, Sharif University of Technology.
PhD researcher
Farbod Kamiab ↗
2011–2015
Neutron stars, modified gravity, and numerical relativity.
Director of AI and Data Engineering, Everlywell.
Visiting and co-supervised PhD researcher
Jahed Abedi ↗
2016–2018
Black-hole echoes and gravitational-wave data.
Assistant Professor, Beijing Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Applications.
PhD researcher
Siavash Aslanbeigi ↗
2010–2014
Causal sets, nonlocality, and cosmological structure.
Vice President, Trading Products, BMO Capital Markets.
PhD researcher
Krishan Saraswat ↗
2018–2023
Black-hole microstates, echoes, quantum chaos, and holography.
Postdoctoral Researcher, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Visiting PhD researcher
Morgan Lynch ↗
2015–2016
Curved-spacetime quantum field theory and the Unruh effect.
Postdoctoral researcher, Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics.
Undergraduate researcher
Jolene Zheng ↗
2021
COVID forecasting and dashboard development.
Software Engineer, Bloomberg.
Co-op student
Michelle Kao ↗
2023
Undergraduate research co-op in astrophysics and cosmology.
MSc student in Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University (from Fall 2026).
Undergraduate researcher
Nabeel Rasheed ↗
2023–2025
Analytic gravitational-waveform templates.
PhD student, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
BSc researcher
Ruijing Tang
2023–2025
Teleparallel Born–Infeld gravity and accretion-disk dynamics.
Graduate student, Paris Observatory.
Bachelor’s Honours researcher
Saral Shah ↗
2024–2025
Dynamical friction in a neutrino sea.
MSc student, University of British Columbia.
Bachelor’s Honours researcher
Lyvia Yanover ↗
2024–2025
The bi-thermal Big Bang.
MSc student, University of Waterloo.
NM
Bachelor’s Honours researcher
Nikhil Murali ↗
2024–2025
Quantum corrections at the tip of a cigar.
Former group member.
Bachelor’s Honours researcher
Alex Dominic Raul Brisebois ↗
2024–2025
Clustering in action–angle space.
PhD student, University of Toronto.
Postdoctoral researcher
Arad Nasiri ↗
2023–2025
Stochastic dark matter and covariant Brownian motion.
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of New Brunswick.
Doctoral researcher
Everett Avison Patterson ↗
2023–2024
Accelerated detectors in superposed spacetimes.
PhD student, University of Waterloo.
Doctoral researcher
Johanna Borissova ↗
2022–2025
Scale invariance at the core of quantum black holes.
Research Assistant, Imperial College London.
Doctoral researcher
Jungjoon Leo Kim ↗
2022–2024
Dark sirens and particle astrophysics.
Postdoctoral Fellow, York University.
Postdoctoral researcher
Alex Krolewski ↗
2023–2024
Doppler bias and large-scale structure.
Research Scientist, California Institute of Technology.
Postdoctoral researcher
Jerome Quintin ↗
2023–2025
Quadratic gravity in cosmology and black holes.
Assistant Professor, ÉTS, and Visiting Fellow, McGill University.
Postdoctoral researcher
Farbod Hassani ↗
2022–2024
Dynamical friction with cosmic neutrinos.
Researcher, Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo.
Postdoctoral researcher
Maria Mylova ↗
2021–2025
The thermal Big Bang and effective Cuscuton theory.
Project Researcher, Kavli IPMU.
Postdoctoral researcher
Farnik Nikakhtar ↗
2020–2024
Clustering in action–angle space.
YCAA Postdoctoral Fellow, Yale University.
X(Y
Undergraduate researcher
Xitai (John) Yin ↗
2023–2024
Black holes in quantum gravity.
MSc Physics — Quantum Technology, University of Waterloo (class of 2025).
Undergraduate researcher
Shafika Olalekan Koiki ↗
2021
COVID forecasting and online dashboard development.
Former group member.
Undergraduate researcher
Kasia Wisniewski ↗
2021
Black-hole echoes from the failed supernova AT2017be.
Satellite Operations Technician, GHGSat.
Visiting undergraduate researcher
Guandi Zhao ↗
2023–2024
Thermal Sunyaev–Zel’dovich contribution from low-mass galaxies in unWISE.
MSc student, ETH Zurich.
Undergraduate researcher
Lakshay Goel ↗
2023–2024
Accelerated detectors in a superposed spacetime.
Co-founder and team lead, MedullaAI.
Bachelor’s researcher
Hazel Gifford ↗
2023–2024
Cuscuton theory and cosmology.
MSc student, Brock University.
Bachelor’s researcher
Aryanna Schiebelbein-Zwack ↗
2022–2023
Mystery noise in LIGO.
PhD student, University of Toronto and CITA.
Bachelor’s researcher
Yu Li ↗
2022–2024
Cosmological scalar fields and orbital networks of quantum sensors.
PhD student, California Institute of Technology.
Bachelor’s researcher
Jensen Lawrence ↗
2021–2023
Universal horizons in Einstein–Aether theory.
PhD student, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Bachelor’s researcher
Yunfei (Robin) Wen ↗
2020–2023
A cosmic glitch in gravity.
PhD student, California Institute of Technology.
Bachelor’s researcher
Meagan Stewart ↗
2020–2021
Transient weak lensing from quasar light curves.
MSc student, Simon Fraser University.
Bachelor’s researcher
Shafayat Shawqi ↗
2020–2022
Sorkin–Johnston effective field theory.
PhD student, University of Alberta.
Bachelor’s Honours researcher
Luke Bovard ↗
2010–2011
Undergraduate research in astrophysics.
Senior Data Scientist, Plato.
Undergraduate researcher
Matthias Mueller ↗
2008–2009
Undergraduate research in astrophysics.
Scientist, Forschungszentrum Jülich.
Master’s researcher
Oleksandra Hrytseniak ↗
2022–2023
Search for flattened non-Gaussianity.
Resident PhD student, Perimeter Institute and University of Waterloo.
Master’s researcher
Wan Zen Chua ↗
2019–2020
Electromagnetic albedo of fuzzballs.
PhD student, Cornell University.
Master’s and PhD researcher
Qingwen Wang ↗
2015–2020
Fuzzball approach to black holes and black-hole echology.
XVA Quant, Scotiabank.
Master’s researcher
Abhineet Agarwal ↗
2010–2012
Thermal tachyacoustic cosmology.
PhD completed at Jamia Millia Islamia in 2020; current appointment to be confirmed.
Master’s researcher
Jiayue Yang ↗
2022–2024
Entropy of analogue black holes in tilted Dirac-cone materials.
PhD student, University of Waterloo.
Master’s researcher
Supranta Boruah ↗
2017–2018
Milky Way mass and clustering in Gaia action space.
Center for Particle Cosmology Fellow, University of Pennsylvania.
Master’s researcher
Hyungjin (Tony) Kim ↗
2016–2017
Cuscuton theory, modified dispersion relations, and pulsar constraints on vacuum noise.
Software Engineer, Validus Risk Management.
Master’s researcher
Yosdanis Vázquez Ponce ↗
2009–2012
Black-hole halo model and holographic cosmology.
Current role to be confirmed.
Visiting PhD researcher
Valentin Boyanov Savov ↗
2022
Aspects of quantum black holes in semiclassical gravity.
Postdoctoral researcher, CENTRA and Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, through April 2026; current appointment to be confirmed.
Visiting PhD researcher
Luís Felipe Longo Micchi ↗
2019–2024
Echo diversity in binary-black-hole mergers and spectrogram correlated stacking.
Postdoctoral researcher, Friedrich Schiller University Jena.
Visiting PhD researcher
Daichi Tsuna ↗
2019–2020
Quantum black-hole seismology.
ITC Fellow, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.
Visiting PhD researcher
Aaron Held ↗
2018–2019
Quantum black holes in asymptotic safety.
Philippe Meyer Junior Research Chair, École Normale Supérieure, Paris.
Visiting PhD researcher
Utkarsh Giri ↗
2018–2019
Pressure of haloes in cosmological simulations.
Postdoctoral Scholar Research Associate, California Institute of Technology.
Postdoctoral researcher
Elliot Nelson ↗
2014–2018
Cosmological non-constant problem and quantum decoherence during inflation.
Researcher, Future Impact Group.
Visiting PhD researcher
Ali Narimani ↗
2013–2014
How does pressure gravitate?
Machine-learning researcher, Google.
Visiting PhD researcher
Jeremy Sakstein ↗
2013–2014
Novel approaches to modified gravity.
Assistant Professor, University of Hawaiʻi.
PhD researcher
Sean Gryb ↗
2010–2011
Shape dynamics and Mach’s principles.
Assistant Professor, University College Groningen.
Visiting PhD researcher
Marilena Loverde ↗
2007–2008
Extended Limber approximation.
Professor and Dr. Ann Nelson Endowed Professor, University of Washington.
Postdoctoral researcher
Ramit Dey ↗
2020–2024
Spectrogram correlated stacking and black-hole echoes.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Western University, and Associate Postdoctoral Researcher, Perimeter Institute.
Postdoctoral researcher
Barak Shoshany ↗
2020
Bayesian search for black-hole echoes.
Associate Professor, Brock University.
Postdoctoral researcher
Takeshi Kobayashi ↗
2012–2015
Primordial magnetic fields from the post-inflationary universe.
Associate Professor, SISSA (Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati).
These cards combine the original historical roster with completed and withdrawn student/postdoctoral records from the long CV. Current and in-progress people remain in the current-members section. Please send corrections or updated photographs; uncertain details are labelled rather than guessed.