Menglei Zhang

Menglei Zhang is a graduate student at Columbia University starting in Fall 2025. Her interests are the application of computational methods to real-world problems.  She says “I’m excited to be part of the AI4SGS Mentored Research Program because I’m interested in exploring how AI and statistical methods can be used to address real-world social challenges”. She is particularly interested in the opportunity to work on interdisciplinary research and learn how computational approaches can be connected with social work and community needs.

She hopes that this experience will help her to better understand the connection between academic research and real-world applications, including where the gap between academia and industry lies. At the same time, she hopes to explore her own interests and gain a better sense of the direction she would like to pursue in the future.