Sunny Y. Duan

I am a PhD candidate in Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT, working with Prof. Ila Fiete in the Fiete Lab. My research combines computational neuroscience with machine learning to understand how the brain works. I am interested in how the circuitry of the brain gives rise to computation and behavior in two broad ares:

Neural Circuit Modeling

I develop dynamical systems models of neural circuits in Drosophila and C. elegans to understand how neural dynamics give rise to behavior. My work focuses on making minimal, biologically plausible modifications to connectome data to produce functional circuits.

Multi-area Motor Control

I study how different brain regions (cerebellum, motor cortex, and sensorimotor cortex) cooperate to enable versatile motor learning. Using neural network models, I investigate how these systems handle real-world challenges like delayed feedback and noisy sensory input.

Prior to MIT, I worked as a Research Engineer at DeepMind, where I developed reinforcement learning algorithms for data center power optimization. I also contributed to the Aquila project at Google.