Dr. Divya Sharma, PhD

About Me

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at York University, with cross-appointments as a Status-Only Assistant Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, and as a Clinician Investigator and AI Scientist at the University Health Network (UHN).

I lead the IMPACT-AI Lab, where my research advances interpretable machine learning for high-dimensional, multimodal biological, biomedical, and health data. My interdisciplinary work spans genomics, liver disease, mental health, cancer, and osteoarthritis, integrating AI modeling with biological insight to support discovery, precision medicine, and real-world clinical decision-making.

I hold a PhD in Computer Science with a specialization in Machine Learning from the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in Biostatistics at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, UHN. My research program centers on developing bespoke deep learning, reinforcement learning, and generative AI models for complex biomedical and clinical data, with a strong commitment to interpretability, equity, and responsible deployment.

My work has been published in high-impact journals including Nature Communications, The Lancet Digital Health, npj Digital Medicine, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, and Bioinformatics. My research is supported by federal grants from CIHR, NSERC, and NFRF, and I am a recipient of the 2025 Petro-Canada Emerging Innovator Award.

Research Interests

• Machine Learning for Biomedical and Clinical Decision-Making
• Deep Learning for Multimodal Biomedical Data
• Generative AI for Biomedical Discovery and Clinical Support
• Big Data Analytics in Biomedical and Health Systems Research
• Reinforcement Learning for Personalized Healthcare

Education and Training

• Postdoctoral Fellowship, May 2019 - Sep 2021
  University of Toronto & Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, UHN
• PhD in Computer Science, May 2015 - May 2019 (Specialization: Machine Learning)
  Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur, India
• M.Tech in Computer Science, May 2013 - May 2015
  Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur, India
• Bachelor in Engineering (B.E.) in Computer Science, Jun 2008 - May 2012
  Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra

Research Funding

Memberships

• Centre for Excellence AI for Public Health Advancement - YorkU
• Connected Minds - YorkU
• Centre for AI and Society - YorkU
• Schroeder Arthritis Institute
• The Temerty Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Education in Medicine (T-CAIREM), UoT