About the Authors

Mutlu Yuksel Dalhousie University Web page mutlu@dal.ca

Yigit Aydede Saint Mary’s University Web page yigit.aydede@smu.ca

Mutlu Yuksel is a Professor in the Department of Economics at Dalhousie University, Canada and an applied microeconomist whose research spans labor, health, and applied economics. In recent years, he has shifted from traditional data and causal inference methods toward the use of high-dimensional data and machine learning tools to better analyze complex policy questions. Yuksel has taught across all academic levels and supervised various students, earning recognition for teaching excellence. He is also the co-founder of the Research Portal on Machine Learning for Social and Health Policy, which supports research and public education on policy-relevant applications of machine learning.

Yigit Aydede is the Sobey Professor of Economics at Saint Mary’s University, Canada. He is an applied economist whose research connects econometrics with machine learning and AI, focusing on public policy, health analytics, and the use of unconventional data. He teaches data analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Aydede also serves as Faculty in Residence at the Sobey School of Business and as an Affiliate Scientist at Nova Scotia Health, contributing to interdisciplinary work in health and social sciences. He is the co-founder of Novastorms.ai, an AI-driven startup offering real estate, neighborhood, and public safety insights in Nova Scotia. He also co-founded the ML Portal to promote machine learning research and training in social and health policy.