Daniel J Wilson

Decision neuroscience, cognitive psychology & computational social science

Montreal, Canada, EST

DJW

About

I am currently completing my PhD examing the Intention-Behavior Gap through multi-modal analysis of intensive longitudinal data collected from self-report and digital trace data using smartphones and wearables.

Education

University of Toronto
PhD

2017 - 2024🍼

Decison Neuroscience Lab, Faculty of Psychology

  • Developed a novel measure of the Intention-Behavior Gap, and directed the collection of novel intensive longitudinal data - both digital trace and self report - with a breadth and level of granularity atypical for the field. Developed predictive machine learning models of state-level gap dynamics using this data.
  • Examined the effects of online advertising on user affect using large-scale Twitter data and NLP.
  • Ran a fMRI neuroimaging study looking at the effects of mindset on food preference and healthy eating.
    • 🍼 Took two years of parental leave during this time to care for three new research assistants [1]

    University of Toronto
    MA

    2016 - 2017

    Decision Neuroscience Lab, Faculty of Psychology

    I left a career split between documentary film and art to begin a PhD. Having never taken a Psychology or Neuroscience course prior to beginning my PhD my first year involved considerable amounts of remedial learning. I also completed a masters dissertation that looked at the contextual valuation and weighting of attributes in multi-attribute choice.

    Skills

    Machine Learning
    Deep Learning
    LLMs
    Data Science
    Data Visualization
    Computational Modeling
    Statistical Analysis
    Experimental Design
    Digital Trace Data
    Time Series Analysis

    Tools

    Python
    R
    SQL
    SciKit Learn
    Tensorflow
    VS Code
    Jupyter
    RStudio
    Quarto
    Streamlit
    Shiny
    Tableau
    Airtable
    Qualtrics
    Adobe Suite
    Microsoft Suite

    External

    Summer Institute on Bounded Rationality

    2023 | Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin

    Brings together talented early-career researchers and renowned scientists to spark a dialogue about decision making under the real-world constraints of limited time, information, and computational power.

    boosting
    nudging
    behavioral economics

    Oxford Machine Learning Summer School

    2021 | AI for Global Goals, in partnership with CIFAR and the University of Oxford's Deep Medicine program

    The world's largest advanced AI bootcamp, offering cutting edge course in ML/DL.

    5% acceptance rate

    machine learning
    deep learning
    summer school

    Civic Innovation Corps

    2021 | NYC Office for Economic Opportunity

    Run by Coding it Forward, the Civic Innovation Corps aims to provide opportunities for early-career mission-driven technologists to explore careers in public service.

    3.6% acceptance rate

    data science
    data visualization
    shiny
    fellowship

    Neuromatch Academy

    2020 | Online

    Computational neuroscience program teaching cutting-edge advances in machine learning and causality research with a focus on interpretability and the process of modeling.

    neuroscience
    machine learning
    causality
    summer school

    Kavli Summer Institute in Cognitive Neuroscience

    2019 | UC Santa Barbara

    Renowned interdisiplinary hands-on program that focuses on advancing knowledge and research in the field of cognitive neuroscience.

    cognitive neuroscience
    summer school
    fellowship

    Computational and Mathematical Modeling of Cognition

    2018 | Couches, France

    Methods and applications of computational models for understanding human cognition and behavioral processes.

    modeling
    summer school
    cognitive psychology

    Kording Lab

    2018 | University of Pennsylvania

    Large scale investigation of the effects of online advertising on user affect, employing natural experimental techniques and NLP.

    visiting scholar
    econometrics
    machine learning

    Summer School In Social Neuroscience and Neuroeconomics

    2017 | Duke University

    Integrative approach directed by Molly Crockett, Gregory Samanez-Larkin, Jamil Zaki, and Kendra Seaman.

    neuroscience
    neuroeconomics
    summer school

    Awards & Fellowships

    University of Toronto Doctoral Completion Award

    2023 - 2024

    Schwartz Reisman Institute Graduate Fellowship

    2021 - 2023

    Apple Health Research Partnership

    2021 - 2023

    Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Scholarship

    2018 - 2023

    Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement

    2018 - 2019

    Franco Vaccarino UTSC Graduate Scholarship

    2017 - 2018

    Massey College Junior Fellow

    2017 - 2018

    Previous

    Documentary Filmmaker

    Selected Work

  • Editor and producer on a number of investigative journalism projects for PBS Frontline, including the Emmy-nominated A Death in St. Augustine [2], in collaboration with the New York Times.
  • Editor on the inaugural season of The Circus [3].
  • Co-director and editor of the short film Alvaro [4], produced while a fellow at UnionDocs, which was later screened at MoMA PS1 and acquired by Criterion.

    • PBS
    Showtime
    Criterion
    A&E
    Discovery
    Viceland

    Artist

    Selected Work

  • Co-founder of the minutiae app. An anti-social media art project launched on a whim in collaboration with ustwo which has now developed a dedicated community of participants [5].
  • Works have been shown at MoMA PS1, The New Museum, the Centre Pompidou, collected in the Columbia University Rare Books archive (their first app) and covered in the Wall Street Journal [6] and the New York Times [7].
  • Selected for a $120k grant from the Canada Council for the Arts that paired five Canadian artists with five Canadian scientists. Developed a VR experience where the audience explored the reciprocal space of a lysozyme molecule.
  • Selected as a resident at NEW INC. [8], a UnionDocs Fellow [9], and a participant in The School for Poetic Computation [10].

    • performance
    video
    vr
    multi-media
    web

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