Leon Lufkin
Homepage: leonlufkin.github.io
Education
Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- B.S. in Statistics & Data Science, Mathematics
- GPA: 4.00/4.00
8/2020 – Present
Research Experience
Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, University College London
- Supervised by Prof. Andrew Saxe & Dr. Erin Grant
Developed theory to explain localization in simple neural networks.
9/2023 – Present
Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University
- Supervised by Prof. Jonathan D. Cohen & Dr. Kamesh Krishnamurthy
Machine learning models for relational reasoning and learning symmetry functions.
6/2023 – Present
Department of Statistics & Data Science, Yale University
- Supervised by Prof. Yihong Wu
- Proved sharp thresholds for shuffled linear regression 6/2023 – Present
- Supervised by Prof. John Lafferty
- Developed models for emergent topographic maps in the visual cortex 6/2021 – 1/2023
Yale School of Management, Yale University
- Supervised by Prof. Barbara Biasi
Studied capital financing in public schools through large-scale analysis of ballot texts.
2/2021 – 2/2022
Department of Biology, Clarkson University
- Supervised by Prof. Petra Kraus
Analysis of transcriptome gene expression in mice using moderated t-statistics.
3/2020 – 7/2020
Department of Mathematics, Clarkson University
- Supervised by Prof. Sumona Mondal & Prof. Shantanu Sur
Built predictive models to study rheumatoid arthritis and its risk factors.
5/2018 – 1/2021
Research Interests
Machine learning theory, Computational neuroscience, High-dimensional statistics
Publications
- P7. Leon Lufkin, Andrew Saxe, Erin Grant. “Nonlinear dynamics of localization in neural receptive fields.” Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems, Spotlight presentation (< 4%). 5/2024
- P6. Leon Lufkin, Yihong Wu, Jiaming Xu. “Sharp Information-Theoretic Thresholds for Shuffled Linear Regression.” Proceedings of the International Symposium on Information Theory. 2/2024
- P5. Raghavendra Pothukuchi, Leon Lufkin, Jonathan Cohen, Abhishek Bhattacharjee. “The QUATRO Application Suite: Quantum Computing for Models of Human Cognition.” Under review at International Symposium on High-Performance Computer Architecture (HPCA). 9/2023
- P4. Grayden Shand, Daniel T Fuller, Leon Lufkin, Carly Lovelett, Nabendu Pal, Sumona Mondal, Shantanu Sur. “A stronger association of depression with rheumatoid arthritis in presence of obesity and hypertriglyceridemia.” Frontiers in Epidemiology. 9/2023
- P3. Leon Lufkin, Ankita Samanta, Petra Kraus. “Glis1 and oxaloacetate in nucleus pulposus stromal cell somatic reprogramming and survival.” Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences. 11/2022
- P2. Leon Lufkin, Ashish Puri, Ganlin Song, Xinyi Zhong, John Lafferty. “Emergent organization of receptive fields in networks of excitatory and inhibitory neurons.” arXiv preprint: arXiv:2205.13614. 5/2022
- P1. Leon Lufkin, Marko Budišić, Sumona Mondal, Shantanu Sur. “A Bayesian model to analyze the association of rheumatoid arthritis with risk factors and their interactions.” Frontiers in Public Health. 7/2021
Academic Honors & Awards
- Hartigan Prize for outstanding original research in statistics, Yale University 5/2024
- Phi Beta Kappa (Junior year inductee), Yale University 10/2022
- Richter Fellowship, Yale University 2022–24
- Tobin RA Fellowship, Yale University 2021
Talks and Presentations
- T6. “Sharp Information-Theoretic Thresholds for Shuffled Linear Regression,” ISIT 2024 (Oral), Athens, Greece 7/2024
- T5. “Probing Algorithmic Generalization in Neural Networks with Addition,” Princeton Neuroscience Institute (Poster), Princeton, NJ 7/2024
- T4. “Probing Algorithmic Generalization in Neural Networks with Addition,” Cohen Lab (Oral), Princeton, NJ 7/2024
- T3. “Sharp Information-Theoretic Thresholds for Shuffled Linear Regression,” Yale Information Theory Conference (Poster), New Haven, CT; Outstanding Poster Award 5/2024
- T2. “Understanding Emergent Convolutional Structure in a Fully-Connected Network,” Gatsby Unit (Oral), London, UK 11/2023
- T1. “Abstractors,” Cohen Lab (Oral), Princeton, NJ 8/2023
Teaching Experience
- S&DS 312: Linear Models (Undergraduate Learning Assistant) Fall 2024
Professional Service
- Reviewing: NeurIPS, Annals of Statistics (AOS)
- Committees: Residential College Seminar Committee, Yale University
Other Activities
- Data Desk Editor, Yale Daily News 2021–22
- Potsdam High School Boys’ Basketball Assistant Coach & Data Analyst Winter 2022
- Yale Summer Session Counselor Summer 2022
Fun
- Activities: Swimming (competitive), Cycling, Snowboarding, Pickleball, Electric guitar, Archery
- Travel: Visited 30 countries across 5 continents, lived in Singapore for 9 years
- Languages: English (native), German (heritage)