Rate My Professor Johnathan Colen

Jonathan Colen serves as Research Assistant Professor at Old Dominion University, located at the ODU Tri-Cities Center in Portsmouth, Virginia. He is affiliated with the ODU-Jefferson Lab Joint Institute on Advanced Computing for Energy & Science and supported by the Hampton Roads Biomedical Research Consortium. Colen's research involves building interpretable models of complex systems utilizing tools from artificial intelligence, machine learning, and physics. His efforts concentrate on multidisciplinary problems in two primary areas: AI for Science and AI for Health. Previously associated with the University of Chicago's James Franck Institute, he earned a BS in Computer Science from the University of Virginia between 2014 and 2018.

Colen has contributed to several prominent publications. In 2025, he co-authored 'Sociohydrodynamics: Data-driven modeling of social behavior' in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences with Daniel S. Seara, Michel Fruchart, Yael Avni, David G. Martin, and Vincenzo Vitelli. Also in 2025, 'Harnessing the power of gradient-based simulations for multi-objective optimization in particle accelerators' was published in Machine Learning: Science and Technology alongside Kishansingh Rajput, Malachi Schram, Auralee Edelen, Armen Kasparian, Ryan Roussel, Adam Carpenter, He Zhang, and Jay Benesch. Key 2024 works include 'Interpreting Neural Operators: How Nonlinear Waves Propagate in Nonreciprocal Solids' in Physical Review Letters with Alexis Poncet, Denis Bartolo, and Vincenzo Vitelli; 'Predicting radiation-induced immune suppression in lung cancer patients treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy' in Medical Physics with Cam Nguyen, Seth W. Liyanage, Eric Aliotta, Joe Chen, Clayton Alonso, Kara Romano, Sean Peach, Timothy Showalter, Paul Read, James Larner, and Krishni Wijesooriya; and 'Machine learning interpretable models of cell mechanics from protein images' in Cell with M.S. Schmitt, Stefano Sala, John Devany, S. Seetharaman, A. Caillier, M.L. Gardel, P.W. Oakes, and Vincenzo Vitelli. These publications highlight his impact across biophysics, particle physics, oncology, and materials science.