About
Nanyi Deng
Data Science and AI for Positive Social Change
Short Biography
I study how AI systems are evaluated and used in settings where decisions depend on evidence, policy, and human judgment. My dissertation develops policy-aligned retrieval-augmented generation for child welfare documentation and examines how practitioners oversee its outputs. I also apply computational methods to broader social questions, most recently in public health.
I am a PhD candidate in Social Work at Fordham University, with a focus on data science, and hold a master’s degree in Applied Analytics (Computer and information science) from Columbia University. Before the doctorate, I worked in industry as a data scientist and software engineer, most recently on AI infrastructure. That work shapes my research on system reliability and on how people verify AI-generated information in practice.
Academic Training
PhD, Social Work
Fordham University
2021–2027 (expected)
M.S., Applied Analytics (Computer and Information Sciences)
Columbia University
2020–2021
BA, Psychology
University of Kansas
2014–2017
Selected Professional Experience
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Software Developer Consultant, AI Infrastructure / MTIA
Meta
2025–2026
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Senior AI Engineer Consultant, Compliance Monitoring
Bank of America
2024–2025
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Data Scientist Consultant, VR
Meta
2022–2023