People
ITC Director
Charlie Conroy
cconroy@cfa.harvard.eduProfessor of Astronomy
Director, Institute for Theory and Computation (ITC)
Research Interests: Galaxy formation and evolution, connection between galaxies and dark matter halos, stellar population modeling, stellar evolution.
Associate Senior ITC Members
Charles Alcock
calcock@cfa.harvard.eduProfessor of Astronomy, Harvard University
Former Director, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (2004-2022)
Charles Alcock is the former director of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, a position he held for 17 years until January 2022. Charles remains a Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University and a Senior Scientist at the Smithsonian...
Eric Keto
eketo@cfa.harvard.eduAstrophysicist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Project Scientist for the Submillimeter Array
Research interests: star formation, numerical simulations, extragalactic, instrumentation, The Eric R. Keto Prize Endowed with a generous donation by ITC Senior Member Eric Keto, the Keto Prize is awarded each year for the best thesis in theoretical...
John M. Kovac
jmkovac@cfa.harvard.eduProfessor of Astronomy and Physics
Research Interests: His cosmology research focuses on observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) to reveal signatures of the physics that drove the birth of the universe, the creation of its structure, and its present-day expansion. His...
Mark Reid
mreid@cfa.harvard.eduSenior Radio Astronomer at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Mark Reid is Senior Radio Astronomer at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, part of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Research interests include black holes, active galactic nuclei, galactic structure, star formation, evolved stars...
Dimitar Sasselov
Phillips Professor of Astronomy
Director, Origins of Life Initiative
Research Interests: Professor Sasselov studies the interaction between light and matter (radiative transfer) from stars and exoplanets to biomolecules at the origins of life, and astrobiology in general. He runs a photochemistry lab exploring the origins...
Alexey Vikhlinin
avikhlinin@cfa.harvard.eduLecturer / SAO Astrophysicist
Research interests: X-ray studies of galaxy clusters and their applications for cosmology and physics of the intergalactic medium. The main past projects in this area include: development of the efficient detection pipeline for extended X-ray sources --...
Postdocs
Vishnu Balakrishnan
vishnu.balakrishnan@cfa.harvard.eduITC Post-Doc
Vishnu Balakrishnan is a postdoctoral researcher in Liam Connor’s group, working in time-domain radio astronomy with a focus on pulsars, fast radio bursts (FRBs), and large-scale survey software. He joined the group in September 2025. He received his Ph.D...
Jake Bennett
jake.bennett@cfa.harvard.eduLars Hernquist Research Group Fellow
Jake Bennett is part of the Simons Foundation’s “Learning the Universe” collaboration, and is based at the Institute for Theory and Computation at the CfA. Jake uses cosmological simulations to investigate how galaxies grow and evolve, with a particular...
Kaley Brauer
kaley.brauer@cfa.harvard.eduNSF Fellow
Kaley develops and analyzes dwarf galaxy simulations in the early Universe to understand the first stars & galaxies and how they contributed to the Milky Way.
Carolina Cuesta-Lazaro
carolina.cuesta-lazaro@cfa.harvard.eduIAIFI Fellow
Carolina Cuesta is an IAIFI Fellow at the Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions, holding a shared position between MIT and the Theory and Computation at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. Carolina is...
Paola Domínguez Fernández
FFL Fellow
Dr. Paola Domínguez Fernández studies large-scale magnetic fields and non-thermal phenomena in the Universe, with special interest in the magnetized cosmic web and galaxy clusters. Specifically, the areas related to her work are: primordial magnetic...
Monica Gallegos-Garcia
ITC Fellow
Monica Gallegos-Garcia’s research aims to improve our understanding of binary evolution and the formation of gravitational wave sources. In her work, she incorporates a physics-focused and multi-messenger approach to the study of key stages in binary...
Cristhian Garcia Quintero
cgarciaquintero@cfa.harvard.eduNASA Einstein Fellow
Cristhian is a NASA Einstein Fellow working on large-scale structure analyses and tests of the standard model of cosmology. He obtained his PhD from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2024. His research focuses on improving our understanding of...
Cassi Lochhaas
Hubble & ITC Fellow
Research Interests: galaxy evolution, the circumgalactic medium, gas physics, galactic outflows
Scott Lucchini
ITC Fellow
I study the evolution of gas around galaxies using computer simulations. By combining large-scale cosmological simulations with high-resolution isolated galaxy simulations, we can explore the formation and survival of small-scale, multiphase structures in...
Devesh Nandal
devesh.nandal@cfa.harvard.eduSwiss National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow
Devesh Nandal is a Swiss National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. He builds next-generation stellar evolution models for massive and supermassive stars. His work develops the physics of...
Elia Pizzati
elia.pizzati@cfa.harvard.eduNHFP Einstein Fellow
ITC Post-doc
Research interests: I am broadly interested in a range of topics in astrophysics and cosmology, with a particular focus on the formation and evolution of galaxies and quasars. My current research combines numerical simulations and phenomenological...
Vadim Semenov
ITC Fellow
Vadim’s research is centered on understanding how galaxies form and evolve. He explores this problem by running and analyzing supercomputer simulations of galaxies. His previous and current work focuses on the origin of inefficient star formation in...
Dian Triani
CfA Postdoc
My study focused on modelling physics of galaxy formation and evolution. I am especially interested in the interaction between stars and the dust and metals in the interstellar medium. I got my PhD from Swinburne University in Melbourne, with a thesis...
Oliver Zier
ITC Fellow
Oliver Zier earned Bachelor`s degrees in physics and computer science from the University of Bayreuth in Germany and a Master’s degree in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics from the University of Munich. In 2023, under the advisory of Prof. Volker...
Alumni
Evan Bauer
bauer39@llnl.govPhysicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Evan Bauer studies stars and how they evolve. He is especially interested in the physics of white dwarf stars, subdwarf stars, binary evolution, and interactions between stars in binaries. He also works on computational methods for stellar astrophysics as...
Ana Maria Delgado
ana_maria.delgado@cfa.harvard.eduResearcher, Postdoctoral Fellow at Johns Hopkins University
Razieh Emami
razieh.emami_meibody@cfa.harvard.eduITC Alum
Razi's research has recently focused on different topics in Astrophysics. She is particularly interested in various aspects of the observed gravitational waves by LIGO including the binary black holes and neutron stars mergers. She is also eager to probe...
Michael Foley
Climate Data Science Postdoctoral Fellow
Research Interests: Massive stars, supernovae, stellar feedback
Sarah Jeffreson
sarah.jeffreson@cfa.harvard.eduAstronomer at the Institute of Theory and Computation
I am interested in how galaxies convert their gas into stars. In particular, I am interested in the relative roles played by the large-scale galactic environment and the small-scale physics of star formation and stellar feedback in setting the star...
Tanveer Karim
Tanveer.Karim@cfa.harvard.eduArts & Sciences Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Toronto
Research interests: Cosmology
Yueying Ni
I am interested in various topics in astrophysics and cosmology. I develop large cosmological hydrodynamic simulations to study the evolution of quasars and galaxies over cosmic history. I am particularly interested in how the large scale structures...
Conor Ransome
My research interest is observational astronomy with a focus on interacting transients--such as type IIn supernovae and supernova impostors and their host environments. Currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Steward Observatory at the...
Michael Rashkovetskyi
michael.rashkovetskyi@cfa.harvard.eduCenter for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics (CCAPP) Fellow at the Ohio State University
Sophia Sánchez-Maes
sophiasm@umd.eduPostdoctoral Research Associate
Sophia Sánchez-Maes is a physicist whose work bridges observational, computational, and instrumental approaches to study plasma processes in extreme astrophysical environments. She develops high-cadence soft X-ray instrumentation for solar flare imaging...
Magdalena Siwek
Junior Fellow with the Simons Society of Fellows at Columbia University
Research Interests: Supermassive black hole merger simulations
