The Third Annual DataX+IDRE ‘Research in the Age of AI’ Symposium will feature distinguished researchers from departments across UCLA to speak on the use, development, and impact of AI in research. This multidisciplinary event will showcase advancements of artificial intelligence across diverse academic fields, as well as leading voices on the effects of AI. Participants will have the opportunity to engage with experts, explore innovative research, and join in thought-provoking discussions. The goal of the event is to build connections among UCLA researchers who engage with AI.
Space is limited and registration will be capped. Refreshments, lunch, and an afternoon reception will be provided.
Venue: UCLA University Club
Date: Thursday, May 7, 2026
Time: 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
The symposium is open to current UCLA faculty, academic and staff employees, and students.
Program
8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Registration and light breakfast
9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Welcome
9:15 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Keynote
- Achuta Kadambi, Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Panel discussion: Bringing AI Research to Market
- Moderator: Joel Kehle, UCLA Technology Digital Group, Business Development Officer – Software/Copyright/Physical Science, Engineering & MedTech Team
10:45 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Research Talk
- Wei Wang, Leonard Kleinrock Chair Professor, Computer Science and Computational Medicine and the Director of the Scalable Analytics Institute (ScAi)
11:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. Research Talk
- Julia Powles, Executive Director of the UCLA Institute for Technology, Law & Policy at the UCLA School of Law and UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, and Tech Policy Lead for the University-wide initiative, UCLA DataX
11:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Research Talk
- Guang Cheng, Graduate Vice Chair, Professor of Statistics and Data Science, of Computer Science, and of Biostatistics, UCLA
12:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Lunch
1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. New Faculty Showcase
- J.D. Zamfirescu-Pereira, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science
- Sijia (Lucy) Li, Assistant Professor, Department of Biostatistics at the Fielding School of Public Health
- Xiaowu Dai, Assistant Professor, Department of Statistics and Data Science, Department of Biostatistics, and IDRE affiliated faculty
- Yifan Chen, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics and DataX affiliated faculty
2:30 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. Lightning Talks – IDRE Fellow/DataX Post Doctoral Fellows
- Kang Yang, IDRE Fellow, Postdoctoral Scholar in the Networked and Embedded Systems Laboratory (NESL), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Shazeda Ahmed, DataX Postdoctoral Scholar
3:15 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. Symposium Closing Talk
- Jacqueline Alderson, Director of Tech and Human Performance at DataX and Special Advisor for the Los Angeles Olympics, LA28
3:45 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Symposium Reception
More details to come.
Location
The symposium will be held at the UCLA University Club.
Please refer to the parking website for the most current information about parking at UCLA. The closest parking lot is Parking Structure 2.
Click the map to enlarge
Co-sponsors
- IDRE
- DataX
- Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Creative Activities
- Office of Advanced Research Computing