About

Ben Collier, PhD is a Lead Data Scientist at Duolingo, a language-learning platform that offers personalized learning experiences to over 300 million users worldwide. With over 14 years of relevant experience, Ben has a proven track record of leveraging machine learning, cognitive computing, and artificial intelligence to make better healthcare decisions at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and other clients across the country. Before joining Duolingo, Ben served as the Senior Director of Data Science at UPMC, where he developed machine learning analytics that saved the UPMC system $2.7 million in drug costs. He also led a team of data scientists to develop advanced analytics and machine learning tools for managing drug purchase and distribution for the entire UPMC system. Additionally, he designed and prototyped visualizations and cognitive analytic tools for managing a fleet of $1.2 billion worth of medical equipment (175,000 medical devices) across the UPMC system. Ben's academic background includes a PhD in Dual Emphasis: Information Systems and Organizational Behavior from Carnegie Mellon University, where he also earned a Master of Science (MS) in the same field. He also holds an MBA with an emphasis on Information Systems from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a BBA with a double major in Management Information Systems and Math Statistics from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He has also completed non-degree coursework in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence with an emphasis on Information Systems at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Ben's expertise extends beyond data science and healthcare. He is also an Assistant Teaching Professor and Co-Director of Executive Education at Carnegie Mellon University, where he has published peer-reviewed research examining a large dataset of over 170,000 online contributors. His research has been extensively discussed in a recent article in Harvard Business Review. He has also taught both executive and undergraduate courses on subjects such as Empirical Research Methods, Business Technology Consulting, and Digital Marketing with excellent teaching evaluations. Ben's technical skills include Data Science, Research Science, Machine Learning, Infrastructure, Hadoop, Python, and Java. He is a valuable asset to any organization looking to leverage data-driven insights to make better decisions.