Team
We work on a variety of topics fundamentally aimed at answering the questions:
How do black holes form, grow, and affect their environments?
Find out more about this inspired and supportive group of student and postdocs below.
How do black holes form, grow, and affect their environments?
Find out more about this inspired and supportive group of student and postdocs below.
Group Members
Graduate Students
Collin Lewin
5th Year PhD Student
Research Interests:
AGN timing (X-ray reverberation+UVOIR disk reprocessing), machine learning
Other Interests: painting, gaming, food, dancing
Megan Masterson
5th Year PhD Student
Research Interests: multi-wavelength studies of SMBH transients (TDEs and changing-look AGN)
Other Interests: astronomy outreach, hiking, soccer
Fatima Zaidouni
4th Year Graduate Student
Research Interests: AGN dynamics; High resolution X-ray spectroscopy; Accretion disk outflows
Other Interests: statistics & probability, data modeling | yoga, swimming, food, travel.
Joheen Chakraborty
3rd Year Graduate Student
Research Interests: SMBH transients (QPEs & TDEs); high-performance computing & survey science
Other Interests: video & board games, music, crossword puzzles
Postdoctoral Scholars
Christos Panagiotou
Postdoc
Research Interests:
Multi-wavelength AGN timing, Multi-wavelength TDE analysis
Anna Juranova
Postdoc
(joining Fall 2024)
Research Interests:
High-resolution X-ray and UV spectroscopy, AGN outflows, Time-dependent photoionization, spectral-timing
Ioanna Psaradakis
HETG Postdoc
Research Interests:
ISM studies and dust in X-rays, AGN outflows
Riccardo Arcodia
Einstein Fellow
Research Interests: AGN accretion and evolution; extragalactic transients (QPEs and TDEs)
Other Interests: basketball, sports, concerts/festivals, collecting records
Kishalay De
Einstein/Kavli Fellow
Research Interests: Galactic transients, X-ray binaries, novae, TDEs, IR transients
Kevin Burdge
Pappalardo Fellow
Research Interests:
Ultracompact binaries, white dwarfs, Galactic transients, optical instrumentation
Paul Draghis
Kavli Fellow
(joining Fall 2024)
Research Interests: Black hole X-ray binaries
Past Members
Peter Kosec
Postdoc
(now Hubble Fellow
@ Harvard/SAO)
Matteo Lucchini
Postdoc
(now Fellow @University of Amsterdam)
Daniele Rogantini
Postdoc
(now Burbidge Fellow @ U. Chicago)
Jingyi Wang
PhD Student
(now @ Goldman Sachs)
Undergraduate Researchers (Past & Present)
Summer '24: Jacob Schimp, visiting MSRP student
Spring ’23: Subhi Abo Rdan, MIT ’26
Fall ’22 – IAP ’23: Marina Ten, MIT ’26
Spring ’22 – Fall ’22: Ellie Winkler, MIT ’25
Summer ’22 – Fall ’22: Kylee Carden, MIT ’23, now PhD student at The Ohio State University
Summer ’21 – Fall ’21: Isabella Guilherme, visiting MSRP student, now PhD student at Caltech
Summer ’21 – Spring ’22: Joheen Chakraborty, visiting UROP, now PhD student at MIT
Summer ’20 – Spring ’21: Rachel Zhang, MIT ’21, Senior Thesis Student, now PhD student at Northwestern University
Spring ’20 – Fall ’20: Keaton Clarno, MIT ’24
Fall ’19: Johaun Hachett, MIT ’20, now PhD student at Rice University