Spotlight on Joshua Stadlan
Joshua Stadlan
Research Associate Professor, Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, COMPASS/MSS
How did you first hear about Michelle Birkett, who directs I.AIM's Center for Computational & Social Sciences in Health (COMPASS)?
I wish I had learned about Michelle's work sooner! I only first heard of Michelle last spring as I browsed faculty profiles on the website of Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO), looking for postdoc research roles of interest.
Given methodological preferences of different academic disciplines, I was worried I'd have to choose between the participatory, community expert-centering research I engaged in as Modeling Lead for The MITRE Corporation's Social Justice Platform and the more computational, abstracted modeling of face-to-face interaction networks from my PhD research.
When I stumbled across Michelle’s page, I was thrilled to learn that her team manages to combine thoughtful community engagement, social network interviews with rich data, and rigorous computational modeling. I immediately reached out, and here we are! (Well, the route was a bit more circuitous than that, but the main point is we're here.)
What factors interested you in working with I.AIM?
My idea of fun is thinking through moral dilemmas with friends. My birthday parties back in Cambridge, MA would consist of guests submitting personal ethical conundrums and then debating them over food and drinks (yes, friends actually showed up).
I'm particularly interested in AI ethics, and figure I.AIM–with its guiding principles and Bioethics center–will be a good platform for thinking deeply about ethical design and use of AI in health.
On the topic – let Michelle and me know if you're interested in a computational ethics reading group!
How has your experience in I.AIM changed you?
To be honest– I joined the university in February of this year, so my experience here so far has been characterized by a lot of funding uncertainty, starting with the termination of the NIH grant supporting my postdoc in March. The state of federal research funding has gotten me thinking about alternative ways to structure and fund scientific research. On a personal level, I am grateful to Michelle her colleague Professor Jaline Gerardin, for their support, resourcefulness, and generosity of spirit in working with me to figure out other projects for me. The experience has pushed me to think about how I can proactively learn from folks here, and contribute to others' efforts here in mutually beneficial ways, such that I'll look back positively on my time working here no matter how long I can stay here.
What are your plans for the future?
Long term, I'm hoping to shape complexity science research and computational social science modeling tools that support social well-being and ethical decision-making in policymaking and civic innovation. Open to readers' advice on the best environment for this mission! While it’s okay if it's not all covered in one professional role – for example, I have a little pet research project in the ethics of friendship – I do think complexity science / network science / computational social science is ripe for research at the intersection of societal systems, social relationships, policy, and ethics.
For now, I’m thrilled to continue with innovative computational social science research in support of these goals both at COMPASS and as Research Associate Professor at NICO.
What projects are you currently working on or interested in?
So many projects, where do I start?
I'm quite excited about our upcoming social interaction research study, investigating conversation timing and mixing patterns at social events. Participants will wear proximity badges at the event and asked to fill out short surveys. Data collections like these can help public health experts model social contact for disease control purposes and provide insight for strategies of social inclusion.
Our pilot data collection will be… at my wedding reception's cocktail hour this September (my nerdiness doesn't turn off outside the office!). We're using Instant-Trace electronic proximity badges, developed and manufactured by Fleetwood Electronics in Michigan for COVID-19 contact tracing, complemented by Arduino-based Bluetooth scanners we're building ourselves at COMPASS.
On a more day-to-day level: I'm working on network models of HIV transmission in U.S. cities, with Michelle, and calibrating Agent-Based Models of malaria in Africa, with Professor Jaline Gerardin.
Would you like to share a publication or link to a project that you are most proud of being associated with?
Yes! While I was working as a computational social scientist at MITRE, my team partnered with DC’s Council Office for Racial Equity (CORE) to study the racial wealth gap in the district in support of the council's budget deliberations: http://tinyurl.com/dc-racial-wealth-gap
I'm proud of how we integrated reports of lived experience with quantitative analysis and modeling, and produced a body of research immediately used by policymakers. We even created an interactive online model to walk through the financial life of DC residents, though unfortunately MITRE took down the social equality data dashboards, tools, and reports we had created from their website earlier this year.
What would people be surprised to know about you?
Let's see – well, when colleagues initially meet me in the context of COMPASS, they might be surprised that I studied Mechanical & Aerospace engineering in undergrad, my PhD is in Mechanical Engineering, and that for several years I worked on algorithms to detect incoming missiles.
But it's also not so surprising that interdisciplinary institutes attract folks from different academic disciplines, and I frequently talk about how that work in radar algorithms inspired an idea I had about COVID-19 contact tracing.
I guess another thing that might surprise colleagues after they see me carrying around my bike helmet out of the office or biking home to Lakeview – I was actually very scared of biking, especially urban biking, until 2022 (empirically, walking is more dangerous than cycling in the U.S. per distance travelled). I took one lesson with the Bicycle Riding School in Somerville, and that was enough to boost my confidence. So, getting on my soapbox for a moment: If you're nervous about something, go sign yourself up for a lesson on it!
What is a cause that you are passionate about?
This question is a good reminder for me to learn more about the social support ecosystem in my new neighborhood of Lakeview. I’d like for people to be housed, fed, and feel socially supported, and especially appreciate when these things are integrated. When I lived in Boston, I enjoyed participating in a once a week shift at Haley House, a kitchen where food-secure and food-insecure cook, and eat meals, and clean up together. I dream of applying computational social science research to design effective, lively third places with on-site social services that are still enticing for people just looking for new friends or entertainment. If you already know of successful examples of this, or would like to work on this with me, please reach out!
What advice would you give to a student wanting to get into this field of study?
I sometimes come across the impression that to be qualified in interdisciplinary research, you need to find classes or training in this interdisciplinary area and its specific methods. Well, at the point where there a lot of courses and training and methods in it, it might as well become its own discipline! All you need to study is one thing deeply, and then keep thinking about that thing as you learn a little a bit about other things. I should say, this is at least how I got into an “interdisciplinary field”— see my story above about radar and contact tracing — but I think there’s science of science & innovation literature to support my contention.
What is your favorite spot on campus and why?
The intercampus shuttle! It has great A/C, wifi, and its route along Lake Michigan is majestic. I'm a big fan of mass transit and face-to-face collaboration, so I love the idea of the intercampus shuttle. And as I'm currently splitting my time between I.AIM and Institute for Global Health downtown, and NICO offices on Evanston campus, I'm quite pleased with this shuttle in particular.
Who inspires you?
Definitely my grandparents. They have all inspired my intellectual curiosity and passion for science and research in different ways.
I delighted in backyard nature walks and science museum trips as a kid with my maternal grandmother, Grandma Judy, who pumped me up about every topic I showed interest in.
My Grandpa Sam, a pulpit Rabbi and creative orator with a broad command of science, history, and pop culture alike, modeled for me integrative, critical thinking in exploring how science and faith can together support human flourishing.
My paternal grandfather, "Savi," was a research neuropathologist at NIH who defined the clinical diagnosis for Alzheimer's disease (in one of the most-cited reports in neuroscience - https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.34.7.939). He harbored a strong interest in ethics, especially Jewish medical ethics, supported by his deep knowledge of Jewish tradition, and had endless patience for and interest in everyone around him.
A highlight of my week is my Friday afternoon phone call with my extremely well-read 97-year old paternal grandmother, "Grammy." She sprinkles in little pearls of philosophy, the arts, and science, in addition to life wisdom, in our weekly catch-up. She and Savi were involved in all sorts of medical ethics discussion groups. Grammy is among the first women to earn a law degree at the University of Florida (class of 1949). She inspires me every week with her continued thirst for knowledge, her ethical and intellectual humility, and of course her grandmotherly love.