Sahil is a computer scientist turned applied mathematician interested in analyzing complex natural and social systems. During his PhD, he devised statistical methods to infer connectivity properties of large-scale social networks spanning entire countries and studied their relationship to real-world behaviors such as vaccination.
As a Schmidt Science Fellow, Sahil will work with Professor Dean Eckles and Professor Elchanan Mossel at MIT to infer causal effects in networked systems, composed of several parts interacting through connections, under realistic constraints of partial observations. This theory will further our understanding of causal mechanical processes critical to achieving desirable system states, with the empirical aim of testing the existence of “spillover” effects in social networks that promote prosocial choices and determining whether networks can be leveraged to amplify such effects.
Sahil cares deeply about improving global health. He envisions a research program that deepens our comprehension of computation and causality in complex connected systems and provides actionable interventions to address pressing problems in the biological and social sciences: from developing drug therapies that target specific biomolecular phenotypes to discovering social mechanisms that encourage positive societal outcomes.