Born and raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Vikram Aikat grew up in a household where research was part of everyday life—his mom is a computer science professor and his dad teaches journalism at the University of North Carolina. His first introduction to Duke came during high school at the North Carolina School of Science and Math (NCSSM), just down the street. Vikram later attended the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill as a Morehead-Cain Scholar, majoring in Computer Science and Quantitative Biology.
During college, Vikram explored the intersection of technology and health. A summer in Costa Rica working at a medical clinic sparked his interest in creating educational materials for common issues, such as diabetes. Later, a research experience at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Katabi Lab solidified his passion for using computational tools to improve health outcomes. There, he worked on Wi-Fi sensor technology for applications like fall detection and sleep monitoring—an experience that inspired his current path.
Today, Vikram is pursuing his Ph.D. at Duke as part of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). His dissertation focuses on analyzing features from the SenseToKnow app and developing automated detection methods during caregiver-child interactions. His goal is to create computational models and visualizations that are interpretable and scalable, making health monitoring more accessible for all.
What Vikram loves most about the autism center is its collaborative and interdisciplinary environment. “Everyone here wears so many hats—seeing participants, planning studies, conducting analyses—and all of it has real-world impact,” he says. Contributing his computer science expertise to research that directly helps people is deeply rewarding for him.
Outside of work, Vikram enjoys hiking with his dog, playing tennis, and catching movies at the theater. He and his girlfriend share their home with two cats and a dog, making life lively and fun. He also stays connected with friends through video games, fantasy basketball, and book clubs. Fun fact: Vikram’s favorite animal is the elephant, and he snapped a photo with one at the Melbourne Zoo during the International Society of Autism Research meeting last year!