Gabe McDonnell-Maayan is a PhD candidate with Boston University's Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences and a researcher and engineer at Just Horizons Alliance. His work sits at the intersection of computational methods and human systems—applying social simulation, statistical analysis, and machine learning to complex policy challenges across a wide variety of domains, including suicide prevention, sex trafficking, political polarization, and infectious disease. Trained in computer science and complex systems, Gabe specializes in translating qualitative theories developed with subject matter experts into rigorous, executable models built for experimentation, scenario testing, and evidence-based policy support.
Before coming to BU in 2023, Gabe earned his B.S. in computer science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and worked as a software engineer—a background that informs both the technical rigor and the practical orientation he brings to his research. His driving question is simple: how do you make complexity not just understandable, but useful?
Research Interests
- Complex Systems
- Modeling and Simulation
- Human/Society Modeling