Thiago Tarraf Varella is a Machine Learning Research Scientist at Meta, where he works on ML systems for GPU infrastructure optimization at scale. He holds a Ph.D. in Psychology and Computational Neuroscience from Princeton University, where he worked in the Developmental Neuromechanics & Communication Lab with Professor Asif A. Ghazanfar. His research focused on computational models of behavioral change, combining reinforcement learning, Bayesian active inference, and thermodynamic frameworks to study how biological agents learn and adapt. He previously worked in the Timing and Cognition Lab at Universidade Federal do ABC with Professor Marcelo B. Reyes and Professor Raphael Y. de Camargo.
Thiago completed his undergraduate studies in mathematics and neuroscience in the Molecular Sciences Program at Universidade de São Paulo in 2018.