You can call me Sam :)

My interests span the ethics and governance of emerging (bio)technology, from large-scale ML models and synthetic media to biometric surveillance tools and gene drives.

Presently, I am a Biosecurity Fellow at Rosetta Commons, a consortium leading the development of biomolecular design software, and a Policy Researcher at the Open Molecular Software Foundation. I am also a Fellow at the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, a Visiting Scholar at the Gray Lab within the Johns Hopkins Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and an ELBI Fellow.

Before that, I was a Senior Associate at The Future Society, where I focused on leveraging institutions to mitigate risks posed by the development and deployment of advanced AI systems. I have co-authored numerous reports for the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI), provided input to the OECD Framework for the Classification of AI Systems, authored a piece for an Asia Society series exploring AI issues across the US and China, contributed to the World Economic Forum's A Policy Framework for Responsible Limits on Facial Recognition Use Case, published in The Diplomat, and cited in OneZero. I have provided pro bono feedback on US federal and state legislation concerning algorithmic accountability and biometric technology.

Recently, I was a Kathryn Davis Fellow for Peace at Middlebury Chinese School, a Facilitator of the ITU's Generation Connect Americas Youth Group, a Learning Community Fellow at the Montreal AI Ethics Institute, and an attendee of AI Safety Camp 4.

I received an MSc in Global Affairs from Tsinghua University through the Schwarzman Scholars program and a BA in Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Molecular Biology from Whitman College.

My past employment includes a translational cancer therapeutics internship at the biotech SeaGen, working as an English instructor in Almaty, Kazakhstan through Princeton in Asia, and researching North Korea's nuclear development with the former Economic Advisor to the President of Kazakhstan. I also had a brief but unforgettable foray into acting in Rogers & Hammerstein's Cinderella with an English-speaking community theater while living in Almaty. I speak English (native), Russian (advanced), and a bit of Mandarin Chinese (pre-intermediate).

Please contact me[aт]samuelmcurtis[doт]com for my résumé/CV and all other matters.