Women in Data Science (WiDS) Charlottesville 2025

WiDS Charlottesville is independently organized by the University of Virginia School of Data Science to increase participation of women in data science and to feature outstanding women doing outstanding work. WiDS Charlottesville 2025 will be held in person at the School of Data Science with a livestream option available for sessions taking place in the Capital One Hub.

This year's event will feature a keynote discussion with Lexi Reese, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Lanai Software; research lightning talks by emerging data scientists; an interactive art project; resume reviews; and a panel session on self-advocation. WiDS Charlottesville is a free event held at the UVA School of Data Science and all genders are welcome to attend.

NOTES:

• Lunch is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Only events in the Capital One Hub will be livestreamed.
• If you need accommodations, please let us know during registration.
• Families are welcome and a Green Room with children's activities is provided.
• Free parking is available in the JPJ West Lot with shuttle service on the Gold Line.
   

Reserve Your Seat

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Agenda

11:00 a.m., 11:30 a.m., and 12:00 p.m. ET

Data Science Building Tours | 1st Floor Lobby

Admissions Ambassadors will lead tours highlighting what it's like to be a student at the School of Data Science and all the features of our new building. Tours depart at 11:00 a.m., 11:30 a.m., and 12:00 p.m. and last approximately 30 minutes. No advance registration is required. 

11:00 a.m.-12:45 p.m. ET

Resume Review | Corporate Commons

Meet with career advisors to review your resume for job or graduate school applications. 

Professional Headshots | Student Affairs & Admissions Suite, 1st Floor

12:00-12:45 p.m. ET

Registration and Casual Networking Lunch | 1st Floor Lobby

1:00-4:30 p.m. ET

Family Green Room | Corporate Commons 

Families are welcome to take a break. Children activities and snacks will be provided; A parent or guardian must accompany their child at all times. 

1:00-1:15 p.m. ET

Welcome | Capital One Hub

Phil Bourne, Dean, UVA School of Data Science

1:15-2:15 p.m. ET

From Classroom to Transformation: A Conversation on the Future of Data Science  | Capital One Hub

Join us for an inspiring fireside chat between two pioneering leaders: Lisa Bowers, former Genentech/Roche executive and Director of UVA's Enterprise Studio, and Lexi Reese (UVA '96), CEO of Lanai and former Google and Gusto executive. Together, they'll explore how the next generation of data scientists can shape the future of AI and transform how organizations work. Drawing from their experiences at the intersection of innovation and enterprise, Reese and Bowers will share real stories of young data scientists driving change, discuss emerging opportunities in AI, and offer insights on building impactful careers in data science. Whether you're interested in healthcare, tech, or any other field, this conversation will show you how your unique perspective can help create the future.

Featured Speakers:

• Lexi Reese, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Lanai Software
• Lisa Bowers, Managing Director, The Enterprise Studio, University of Virginia (moderator)

2:15-2:30 p.m. ET

Break 

2:30-3:15 p.m. ET

Breakout Sessions | Capital One Hub, Classrooms 205 and 206

• Research Lightning Talks | Capital One Hub 
  
  Explore a diverse range of cutting-edge topics and research methodologies as each speaker delivers an engaging 7-minute talk examining their current research and projects of interest. Time will be set aside after talks for audience questions. 
   
  • Zoë Gray, Ph.D. in Data Science Student 
    Title: Reduced Order Modeling of Dynamical Systems of Energetic Materials Using Physics-Aware Convolutional Neural Networks in a Latent Space (LatentPARC)  
    
    Physics-informed machine learning is increasingly used in complex physics simulations due to its efficiency in feature extraction, non-linearity handling, and reduced data requirements. However, modeling fast transients and sharp gradients remains challenging. To address this, we extend the physics-aware recurrent convolutional (PARC) framework by projecting dynamics onto a lower-dimensional latent space, simplifying the learning of complex spatiotemporal dynamics. This approach reduces computational cost and training time while maintaining high prediction accuracy. Our method reveals insights into latent dynamics, offering a foundation for exploring highly nonlinear systems and extending applications to other materials and dynamical problems. 
     
  • Kaleigh O’Hara, Ph.D. in Data Science Student 
    Title: Leveraging Machine Learning Techniques to Analyze Pediatric Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing Data  
    
    Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) data provides physicians with useful information about a patient's cardiorespiratory fitness and exercise capacity. In some cases, data from this test can assist in making diagnoses, monitoring diseases, optimizing training, and evaluating fitness. O'Hara has been working on a research project regarding entropy analysis of physiological metrics from CPET by age and sex.
     
  • Elizabeth Palmieri, Ph.D. in Computer Science Student  
    Title: Contrastive Learning in Aspect-based Text Summarization  
    
    Text summarization is a powerful tool that can be utilized by users who are inundated with details when trying to parse information. This complicates the experience for the user and can cause frustration when looking for a specific subset of information within a particular document. Aspect-based text summarization has emerged in response to this challenge by providing a query denoting which facet of the document to summarize. However, it is not a simple task for a model to differentiate the important and inconsequential information from within a document, necessitating an extraneous helper in this task. This talk presents a contrastive learning algorithm that can be leveraged to increase the performance of LLMs in aspect-based text summarization.
     
  • Jade Preston, Ph.D. in Data Science Candidate 
    Title: Advancement of Hyperspectral Image Unmixing and Analysis: An Application in Mineral Detection and Identification  
    
    This body of work contributes to the philosophy of data science by addressing theoretical and practical challenges to advance hyperspectral image analysis. A common process in hyperspectral image analysis is spectral unmixing — the task of identifying pure materials, from an observed pixel spectrum, and estimating their relative abundances. Spectral unmixing is often framed as a regression problem, with Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression serving as a foundational approach. This study compares a variety of unmixing techniques, but also incorporates an explanation of the algorithmic assumptions and relationships between OLS and its extensions contributing to their unmixing success and failure. Additionally, our research contributes to the theoretical foundation of unmixing by examining the physical-chemical phenomena contributing to material identification. We develop a spectral taxonomy classifying minerals based on their molecular design structure, providing insights into spectral material patterns and detection strengths of various techniques.  
     
• Data Science & Me: A Conversation and Art Project | Classroom 206
  
  What does data science mean to you? What does it mean to be a woman in data science? How can we shape the future of the field with ethics and inclusivity in mind? Join us for a thoughtful, moderated discussion exploring these questions and more in a welcoming space designed for young women interested in data science. Together, we’ll reflect on personal experiences, aspirations, and the evolving role of women in the field. Following the discussion, participants will engage in a hands-on creative project — writing or drawing key takeaways from the conversation. These personal reflections will be added to a collaborative mural, a visual representation of our collective insights and aspirations, to be displayed at the School of Data Science. Whether you’re just beginning to explore data science or already envisioning your place in the field, this session is an opportunity to connect, reflect, and create. This session is co-moderated by Siri Russell, Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Partnerships, UVA School of Data Science, and Karolina Naranjo-Velasco, WiDS Ambassador and Ph.D. in Data Science student.
   
• Data Sleuthing: Investigating News-Reported Data Beyond the Headlines | Classroom 205
  
  Step into the role of a data detective in this interactive workshop designed for intermediate data science students and enthusiasts. Using Python in a Google Colab notebook, we’ll analyze news-reported data—going beyond the headlines to perform exploratory data analysis (EDA) and ask questions that lead to new insights. Together, we’ll clean data, identify trends, and extract findings that may have been overlooked. Whether you're refining your skills or sharpening your analytical mindset, this workshop will equip you with practical tools to become a more effective data sleuth. This skills session is led by Maureen O'Shea. (Requirements: A charged laptop and a Google account for Colab access.) 

3:15-3:30 p.m. ET

Break

3:30-4:30 p.m. ET

Advocating for Yourself in Data Science | Capital One Hub 

Success in data science isn’t just about technical skills — it’s about making your voice heard, your work seen, and your impact felt. This panel brings together leaders/women in data science to discuss strategies for advocating for yourself in your career, promoting your research, securing resources to build a research program, and fostering a collaborative, high-performing team. Whether you're navigating academia, industry, or entrepreneurship, join us for an insightful discussion on self-advocacy, leadership, and the power of community in shaping a successful and fulfilling career in data science. 

Featured Speakers:

• Michele Claibourn, Director of Equitable Analysis for The Equity Center at UVA
• Nur Yildirim, Assistant Professor of Data Science
• Hope McIntyre, Staff AI Software Engineer, Ironclad (MSDS '16)
• Jennifer West, Dean, UVA School of Engineering and Applied Science (moderator) 

4:30-4:45 p.m. ET

Closing  | Capital One Hub

4:45-5:30 p.m. ET

Networking Reception | 1st Floor Lobby

Keynote Speaker

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Lexi Reese

Lexi Reese is a visionary leader focused on empowering people to achieve the extraordinary in the age of AI. As co-founder and CEO of Lanai, she's pioneering an AI Empowerment Platform that helps enterprises transform AI experiments into systematic success while protecting what matters most.

A proud UVA alumna ('96) and Echols Scholar, Lexi credits her foundation in critical thinking to her time studying Latin American History with beloved professors Tico Braun and Brian Owensby. Her liberal arts background has uniquely positioned her to bridge the gap between technological innovation and human potential throughout her career.

With nearly three decades of experience in finance and technology, Lexi has established a reputation for architecting success in high-growth, dynamic markets. At Google, she scaled the Global Programmatic Advertising business to become the company's third-largest revenue line. As COO of Gusto, she expanded the customer base to 200,000+ businesses and 1 million small business employees and drove revenue growth 30x. She also served as Executive in Residence at General Catalyst, a leading venture capital firm, developing their Future of Work thesis in the context of big shifts to the economy and labor markets..

At Lanai, Lexi is leading the development of a revolutionary platform that helps enterprises discover AI breakthroughs, protect sensitive data, and accelerate success safely. Under her leadership, Lanai is helping organizations achieve what she calls "compound intelligence growth," where every AI interaction makes the entire organization smarter and more capable.

Her approach to leadership has been shaped by her roles as a former Harvard Business School Fellow in technology and operations management focused on inclusive leadership, board member at Gap Inc. and Lattice, and her current membership in the Council on Foreign Relations. These experiences, combined with her recent bid for California's U.S. Senate seat, reflect her commitment to merging technological advancement with equitable business practices that empower people to achieve their full potential.

At WiDS Charlottesville 2025, Lexi will share insights on how the next generation of data scientists can shape the future of human-AI partnership, drawing from her journey from the Lawn to leading AI innovation. She'll explore how combining technical expertise with diverse perspectives can help organizations achieve the extraordinary in the age of AI.

Speakers

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Lisa Bowers

Lisa Bowers is the Managing Director of UVA’s Enterprise Studio, a service that supports faculty and graduate students in the commercialization of UVA research and technology.   She was formerly the Chief Commercial Officer of Day One, and, prior to that role, was the CEO and founder of Rhia Ventures, a social venture investment organization focused on reproductive health. She has had an extensive career at Genentech/Roche, where she held P&L accountability for Genentech’s $400M+ cystic fibrosis business and was the head of the North American supply chain region, accountable for $20B+ of medicine across the U.S. and Canada. Lisa is the executive chair of the board for Avant Genomics and has been a board observer for Cadence Health (a private biotech company), as well as a member of the board for Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, the largest affiliate in the country, and DICE Therapeutics, a public biotech company. She earned an English degree from Yale University and a Master of Health Services Administration from the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

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Michele Claibourn

As Director of Equitable Analysis at The Equity Center, Michele Claibourn leads community-engaged data science initiatives to promote a more just region. She connects UVA students with local communities through her faculty role at the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, where she teaches courses on equitable policy and public interest data, and her courtesy appointment at the School of Data Science, where she helped launch the Community Data Fellows program. Previously, she founded and led UVA’s StatLab, directed Research Data Services in the UVA Library, and taught political science and quantitative methods. Her research includes Presidential Campaigns and Presidential Accountability and publications in leading political science journals.

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Zoë Gray

Zoë Gray is a second-year Ph.D. student in the School of Data Science at UVA. She earned her B.S. in Mathematics from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and is passionate about the intersection of mathematics and deep learning. Her research focuses on applying deep-learning techniques to physics modeling, particularly for dynamical systems with fast transient flows and sharp gradients, such as energetic materials. Currently, she is exploring the use of differential geometry—a field that studies geometric structures using calculus and linear algebra—to enhance the lab’s previous work on physics-aware recurrent convolutional neural networks (PARC). Her goal is to develop a reduced-order model of PARC that maintains accurate prediction ability while being more efficient.

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Hope McIntyre

Hope McIntyre leads an AI team at Ironclad, where she helps digitize the world’s contracts. With experience at companies big and small—Storyblocks, Disney Streaming, and more—she specializes in integrating AI and ML into digital products. Hope loves writing code and training models but also thrives in shaping data strategy and advocating for AI-driven business impact. She holds an MSDS from UVA’s School of Data Science and a degree from Dartmouth College.

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Karolina Naranjo-Velasco

Naranjo-Velasco is a Ph.D. student with UVA’s School of Data Science and received a master’s degree from the School in 2022. She practiced law in South America earlier in her career where she witnessed how the lack of data analysis negatively impacted policies that could help the lives of the most vulnerable. She focuses on the intersection of law and data science and how data science can be a tool to combat social injustice. 

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Kaleigh O'Hara

Kaleigh O'Hara is a first-year Ph.D. student at UVA working on determining the entropy of pediatric cardiopulmonary exercise testing data. Prior to enrolling in the Ph.D. program, Kaleigh earned her master's in data science from UVA in 2024 and her bachelor's in industrial engineering from Purdue University in 2022. She prefers to work on a variety of projects that challenge her to think outside the box.

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Maureen O'Shea 

Maureen O'Shea serves as an Alumni Career Mentor to the School's B.S. in Data Science students. Additionally, she works as a data consultant after earning a master’s degree from UVA’s School of Data Science in 2022. Before that, she took a 30-year break from the business world to focus on her favorite job: being a mom to her six children. Earlier in her career, she received a graduate degree in material sciences and engineering at the University and served in IBM’s failure analysis department.

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Elizabeth Palmieri

Elizabeth Palmieri is a second year Ph.D. student in Computer Science at the University of Virginia and a member of the Information and Language Processing Lab.  Her research interests include text summarization and the intersection of social sciences and natural language processing. She earned her M.S. in Computer Science from UVA in 2022 and her B.A. in Political Science from Binghamton University in 2016.

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Jade Preston

Jade Preston is an active-duty Operations Research Analyst in the U.S. Air Force and a recent Ph.D. in Data Science candidate at the University of Virginia. With a background in mathematics and operations research, she pursued data science to 1.) develop instruments to enhance global relief initiatives and 2.) bridge the gap between analytics and cyber operations within the Air Force. As part of UVA’s inaugural Ph.D. in Data Science cohort, she focused her research on hyperspectral imaging and remote sensing, culminating in her dissertation, Advancement of Hyperspectral Image Unmixing and Analysis: An Application in Mineral Detection and Identification. Her expertise in machine learning and image analysis supports her goals of supporting humanitarian aid as well as military operations.

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Siri Russell

Siri Russell is the Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Community Partnerships at the UVA School of Data Science, fostering a broader impact of data science on our community. Previously, she served as the inaugural Director for Albemarle County, leading initiatives to improve organizational policies, recruitment strategies, and workplace training. She has also contributed to UVA’s President’s Council on UVA-Community Partnerships Workgroup and was a past lecturer at the School of Architecture. Russell holds an MBA, an M.A. in Community and Economic Development, and a B.A. in Sociology, with a career shaped by collaboration with community partners and policymakers.

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Jennifer West

Jennifer L. West, UVA Engineering's 14th Dean, has a formidable record of accomplishments spanning 25 years as a transformational researcher, award-winning teacher and mentor, inventor, and entrepreneur. Her research focuses on the use of biomaterials, nanotechnology and tissue engineering, applying engineering approaches to studying biological problems and solving unmet medical needs, particularly in the fight against cancer. Dean West came to UVA from Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering, where she was the Fitzpatrick Family University Distinguished Professor of Engineering and Associate Dean for Ph.D. Education, with appointments in biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering and materials science. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, and the National Academy of Inventors, with 19 patents that have been licensed to eight different companies. One company, Nanospectra Biosciences Inc., co-founded by West, is running human clinical trials of a cancer therapy she invented. Her priorities as Dean of Engineering at UVA include building upon the school’s research trajectory, increasing experiential learning opportunities for students, and ensuring a clear pathway to entrepreneurship for faculty and students. 

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Nur Yildirim

Nur Yildirim is an assistant professor of data science at the University of Virginia, specializing in human-centered and participatory AI development. Her research focuses on creating best practices to translate AI technologies into products that benefit society. Previously, she contributed to AI applications in health care at Google Research and Microsoft Research. She holds a Ph.D. in Human-Computer Interaction from Carnegie Mellon University and degrees in industrial design from Middle East Technical University. With a background as a design consultant, she has developed award-winning products across medical devices, consumer electronics, assistive robots, and toys. She is a Digital Health Fellow and a 2023 AI Rising Star by the Michigan AI Lab.