Akshay Jagadeesh

About

Research scientist studying intelligent systems

I am a scientist working at the intersection of artificial intelligence and neuroscience. My early work focused on how the brain supports perception and behavior, using computational models to connect neural activity with cognition.

After nearly a decade in academic research, including a PhD at Stanford University and a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School, I moved into industry to apply these ideas more broadly. I am now a Research Scientist at OpenAI, where I work on AI alignment and AI for health and medicine.

My current work has two linked aims: making AI systems more reliable, beneficial, and aligned with human values, and exploring how AI can accelerate progress in health, medicine, and scientific discovery. I am especially interested in translating lessons from neuroscience and modeling into tools that are safe, useful, and genuinely helpful to people.

Across the work, the underlying question is the same: how do intelligent systems learn, represent, and act in the world, and how can we shape those systems responsibly?

Current focus

AI alignment, AI for health and medicine, reliable model behavior.

Background

Computational neuroscience, vision science, cognition, and modeling.