Alp Erkent, MD, MA
Alp Erkent, MD, MA, is an applied data science specialist in the Center for Data Analytics, Innovation, and Rigor (DAIR) at the Child Mind Institute. Dr. Erkent develops computational tools, analytical workflows, and research infrastructure that support clinical and neuroscience research. He works closely with multidisciplinary teams to develop reproducible data science and machine learning methods for managing, analyzing, and interpreting complex behavioral, clinical, and neuroimaging data.
Dr. Erkent has contributed to initiatives focused on generating safe-to-share synthetic datasets through the development of clinical text processing, de-identification, and generative pipelines — helping create privacy-preserving resources for mental health research. He is also involved in neuroimaging methodology research, including large-scale benchmarking of functional connectivity approaches for fMRI analysis. His work emphasizes reproducibility, transparency, and rigorous evaluation of emerging data science methods to support more reliable scientific discovery.
Prior to joining the Child Mind Institute, Dr. Erkent led research on sensorimotor perception. He contributed to neuroscience and psychiatry projects involving behavioral experiments, virtual reality, neuroimaging, computer-based assessments, and laboratory procedures.
Education
- MD, School of Medicine, Koç University
- MA, Cognitive Science, Boğaziçi University