Malavika joined the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center in April of 2026 as a Junior Engineering Research Associate. She applies her statistical and analytical training to crash analysis and quantitative research in transportation safety.

Prior to joining HSRC, Malavika worked as an AI Researcher at the Society-Centered AI Lab, where she studied how AI systems respond differently across demographic groups and whether these tools can be used reliably in fields like healthcare. She enjoys exploring how statistical methods can be applied across different fields to answer real-world questions. Her work is driven by a commitment to research that is not just statistically sound but practically meaningful, grounded in data-driven decision making.

Malavika received her Master’s in Statistics, Analytics and Data Science degree from UNC Chapel Hill. Outside of work, she likes playing pickleball, hiking, and learning languages.