Melanie Tory
Director of Human Data Interaction Research
Melanie Tory is the director of human data interaction research at the Roux Institute. She is also a professor of the practice at Northeastern, with appointments in the Khoury College of Computer Sciences and the College of Arts, Media and Design. Tory’s research focuses on helping people and businesses to do more with data through the design and evaluation of novel visualization techniques and human-data interactions. Read Bio..
m.tory@northeastern.edu
Michael Correll
Research Associate Professor
Michael Correll is an associate research professor at the Roux Institute with an appointment at Khoury College of Computer Sciences. Correll works in the areas of data visualization, data ethics, and HCI. Correll’s research focuses on understanding how to ethically, accurately, and responsibly communicate data. A particular focus of his recent work is deceptive or dangerous practices that can result in unethical or misleading uses of data. Read Bio..
m.correll@northeastern.edu
Cliff Forlines
Research Associate Professor
Clifton Forlines is an associate research professor focusing on developing and evaluating novel interaction and visualization techniques on tradition and emerging hardware platforms. His research lies in the field of Human-Computer Interaction with a focus on the relationship between input and visual data manipulation to support data-insight and decision-making. Read Bio..
c.forlines@northeastern.edu
Hari Palani
Research Scientist, Data Visualization
Hari Palani is an associate research scientist on the data visualization team at the Roux Institute. Palani also serves as the CEO & Principal Research Engineer of UNAR Labs, a Maine-based startup focused on empowering people with visual impairments by enabling information access in digital media. Leveraging his expertise in Spatial Information Science and Assistive Technology, he leads the R&D efforts at the Roux. Read Bio..
ha.palani@northeastern.edu
Sara Ahmed
Research Assistant, Co-op
Sara Ahmed is a fourth-year Computer Science and Philosophy major at Northeastern University. She is passionate about exploring interdisciplinary approaches to building ethical and responsible AI systems. At the Roux, Sara works as a research assistant co-op with Dr. Mahsan Nourani on the Human Data Interaction team. She is excited about leveraging her philosophy background and technical computer science skills to work on solving complex problems related to emerging AI technology. Read Bio..
sar.ahmed@northeastern.edu
Harshaadhithya Kalaikumar
Research Assistant (AI/ML Engineer)
Harshaadhithya Kalaikumar is a Research Assistant and part of the development team for the HDI research group at Northeastern University. I specialize in turning research ideas into real-world software and products, blending my background in backend development and AI engineering. Before starting my master’s in computer science, I worked as a backend engineer, building enterprise-level AI applications. I’m passionate about identifying challenges around me and creating real-time solutions that make a real impact. For me, the most rewarding part of my work is seeing technology improve people’s lives in meaningful ways. Read Bio..
kalaikumar.h@northeastern.edu
Aditi Krishna
PhD Student, Computer Science
Aditi Krishna is a PhD in Computer Science student at Northeastern University’s Khoury College of Computer Sciences in Boston. She is a member of the Human-Data Interaction (HDI) research team at the Roux Institute in Portland and is co-advised by Dr. Mahsan Nourani and Dr. Melanie Tory.
Krishna’s research explores the human factors influencing user engagement and decision-making in human-AI interactions, mainly focusing on large language models (LLMs). Her work examines how users develop trust and cognitive biases and demonstrate error patterns when interacting with AI systems. Previously, she completed her Masters in Information Systems at Northeastern University, specializing in Data Science and Machine Learning. She holds a Bachelors degree from Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal, India.
krishna.ad@northeastern.edu
