Rohola Zandie

CTO and Co-founder at Absentia Labs

AI Researcher & Founder bridging the gap between Machine Learning and Biological Discovery.

I am the Co-founder and CTO of Absentia Labs, where we architect advanced AI systems to solve high-stakes challenges in healthcare. My work sits at the intersection of generative modeling and biotechnology, transforming how we understand and engineer complex biological systems.

Previously, as a Postdoctoral Researcher at MIT, I specialized in integrating machine learning with multi-omics and drug discovery pipelines. My journey began with a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from the University of Denver, focusing on NLP and affective computing, preceded by foundational research at Sharif University of Technology.

I am driven by the mathematical principles that govern complex data, from the syntax of language to the machinery of life.

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Experience

Senior AI Researcher

Speechify

June 2020 - Nov 2023

I worked as a senior AI researcher at Speechify, where I focused on developing state-of-the-art speech synthesis and natural language processing systems. My work involved leading research projects, and collaborating with cross-functional teams.

Developing SOTA speech synthesis based on deep flow-based models
Developed Phonemizer based on Espeak and deep learning models
Developed text Normalizers for speech preprocessing

Lead AI Scientist

DreamFace Technologies

June 2020 - Aug 2021

I was leading a team of AI scientists and software developers to develop a hybrid chatbot for Ryan, a virtual assistant for the company. The project involved using Blender model and AIML technologies to create a chatbot that could understand and respond to user queries in a natural way.

Develop Hybrid Chatbot for Ryan using Blender model and AIML technologies
Developed the largest male speech corpus named RyanSpeech in the domain of conversation with high quality for usage in research
Develop text to speech models based on RyanSpeech to be used in interaction with elderly people who suffer from Dementia and Alzheimer's disease
Design and conduct experiments consisting of the dialog system interacting with elderly patients
Develop an empathetic aware dialog system for Ryan using state of the art models in NLP
Collaborate with research scientists, development and designing engineers from computer vision, speech, graphics, and game design

Junior Software Developer

Batis

Jul 2012 - May 2016

I worked as a junior software developer at Batis, where I was involved in developing web applications and software solutions for small businesses. My work included designing user interfaces, implementing business logic, and integrating with various APIs.

Develop a small scale, custom ERP software in .NET framework following service-oriented architecture for small businesses
Design user interfaces using WCF for web and desktop application

Education

Post-Doctoral in Biomedical Engineering

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2023 - 2025

Focused on applying generative AI methods to problems in biotechnology, integrating machine learning with biological data, and developing new computational tools for understanding and engineering biological systems.

Large Language models for scRNA data, Multimodal Learning for Mapping the Genotype-Phenotype Dynamics
Research on interpretability methods on Genotype-Phenotype relationships
Research on Diffusion based models for temporal analysis of developmental biological processes

PhD in Computer Science

University of Denver

2017 - 2023

I published two papers in the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Artificial Intelligence.

Topical language generation using Latent Dirichlet Allocation and GPT transformers
Empathetic dialog system based on transformer language models
Common sense abduction language generation and inference using large language models
Augmented goal-oriented conversational agent for interacting with elderly people
Developed SOTA text to speech and vocoder models for newly created speech corpus

Master of Science in Computer Engineering

Sharif University of Technology

2014 - 2016

I completed my master's degree in computer engineering with a focus on natural language processing. My thesis was on developing a novel approach to find temporal event in text.