Carlos G. Correa cgcorrea@princeton.edu
Education
Princeton University Princeton, NJ
Ph.D. in Neuroscience 2018 - 2024
Advisors: Nathaniel D. Daw, Ph.D., and Thomas L. Griffiths, Ph.D.
Coursework: Machine Learning and Pattern Recognition, Probabilistic Models of Cognition, Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience Courses and Labs
The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX
B.S. with Honors in Computer Science 2008 - 2012
Robstown High School Robstown, TX 2008
Experience
New York University New York, NY, Postdoctoral Associate 2024 - Current
Advisor: Marcelo Mattar, Ph.D.
Stanford University Stanford, CA, Research Software Engineer 2016 - 2018
Supervisors: Leanne Williams, Ph.D., and Brian A. Wandell, Ph.D.
Clara Labs San Francisco, CA, Software Engineer 2015 - 2016
OpenTable San Francisco, CA, Software Engineer 2014 - 2015
Ness Computing Los Altos, CA, Software Engineer, acquired by OpenTable 2012 - 2014
Papers
Correa, C. G., Sanborn, S., Ho, M. K., Callaway, F., Daw, N. D., Griffiths, T. L. (Under review). Exploring the hierarchical structure of human plans via program generation. https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.18644. [preprint] [twitter] [analysis code] [experiment code] [experiment demo]
Correa, C. G., Ho, M. K., Callaway, F., Daw, N. D., Griffiths, T. L. (2023). Humans decompose tasks by trading off utility and computational cost. PLOS Computational Biology. [paper] [preprint] [twitter] [code]
Ho, M. K., Abel, D., Correa, C. G., Littman, M. L., Cohen, J. D., & Griffiths, T. L. (2022). People construct simplified mental representations to plan. Nature. [paper] [preprint]
Goldstein-Piekarski, A. N., Wielgosz, J., Xiao, L., Stetz, P., Correa, C. G., …, Williams, L. M. (2021). Early changes in neural circuit function engaged by negative emotion and modified by behavioural intervention are associated with depression and problem-solving outcomes: A report from the ENGAGE randomized controlled trial. EBioMedicine.
Leikauf J. E., Correa C., Bueno A. N., Sempere V. P., Williams L. M. (2021). StopWatch: Pilot study for an Apple Watch application for youth with ADHD. Digital Health.
Williams, L. M., Pines, A., Goldstein-Piekarski, A. N., Rosas, L. G., Kullar, M., Sacchet, M. D., Gevaert, O., Bailenson, J., Lavori, P. W., Dagum, P., Wandell, B., Correa, C., …, Ma, J. (2017). The ENGAGE study: Integrating neuroimaging, virtual reality and smartphone sensing to understand self-regulation for managing depression and obesity in a precision medicine model. Behaviour Research and Therapy.
Conference Proceedings
Correa, C. G., Griffiths, T. L., Daw, N. D. (2024). Program-Based Strategy Induction for Reinforcement Learning. In Proceedings of the 46th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Accepted for oral presentation. [preprint]
Kumar, S., Correa, C. G., Dasgupta, I., Marjieh, R., Hu, M. Y., Hawkins, R. D., Daw, N. D., Cohen, J. D., Narasimhan, K., & Griffiths, T. L. (2022). Using Natural Language and Program Abstractions to Instill Human Inductive Biases in Machines. In Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems. Outstanding paper award (13 of 9634 full paper submissions). [paper]
Correa, C. G.*, Ho, M. K.*, Callaway, F., Griffiths, T. L. (2020). Resource-rational Task Decomposition to Minimize Planning Costs. In Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. [paper] [poster] [twitter] [planning cost demo]
Posters
Leikauf, J. E., Bueno, A. N., Correa, C. G., Sempere, V. P., Williams, L. M. (2019, October). Apple Watch Pilot for Youth with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Chicago, Illinois.
Correa, C. G., Callaway, F., Ho, M. K., Griffiths, T. L. (2019, July). Compositional subgoal representations. Poster presented at the Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
Teaching Experience
Linear Algebra Summer Bootcamp, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ Summer 2020 - 2023
Prepared and taught Linear Algebra class with exercises for incoming Neuroscience Ph.D. students
NEU 502B From Molecules to Systems to Behavior, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ Spring 2020
Assistantship in Instruction
NEU 301 Cellular Neurobiology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ Fall 2019
Assistantship in Instruction
Teaching Transcript Program Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
Pedagogy training program that included in-classroom observation and pedagogy workshops
Service
2020 Graduate Student Representative on the Princeton Neuroscience Institute Climate and Inclusion Committee
2020 Student Organizer for Princeton Neuroscience Institute Ph.D. Applicant Visit Day
2019 Peer Mentor for Princeton Graduate Scholars Program
Ad hoc reviewer for: NeurIPS, PLOS Computational Biology, Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society
Awards & Honors
2024 Cognitive Science Society Diversity and Inclusion Conference Award
2018-2020 Princeton University President’s Fellowship
2008-2011 Cisco Internet Generation Scholarship
2008-2011 Turing Scholars Honors Program
2007-2008 Texas All-State 4A Symphonic Band on Bassoon
Invited talks
2023 NYU, Mattar Lab
2020 UC San Diego, Cognitive Tools Lab
Skills
Advanced with Python, Shell Scripting, Web Development (JavaScript, HTML, CSS)
Experience with MATLAB, R, Julia, Java, C++, SQL, Swift/iOS, fMRI methods