Elena Badillo-Goicoechea

I'm a Senior Data Scientist at The University of Chicago Biostatistics Laboratory, where I build models out of complex, unstructured data—from clinical text to brain imaging and time series—with a focus on neurological research.

Stell-R's (and my) Philosophy Technology should amplify—not diminish—the quality, joy, and serendipity of music discovery.
From Causal Analysis to Musical Networks: "What If?"

I love music just as much as I love data science (okay, maybe music slightly more). And after years of applying computational and statistical methods to understand complex patterns in health data, I realized the same analytical rigor and counterfactual thinking could dramatically improve how we discover music.

I also understand the subtle weaknesses of predictive models. Traditional (KPI-oriented + machine learning-based) music recommendation algorithms are nice and reliable but will tend to trap you (and your future musical you!) in bubbles based on your past choices, listening habits, or generic user profiles.
This is why I wanted Stell-R to take a completely different approach—I've built it to map actual semantic and sonic relationships between artists, creating organic influence pathways -grounded on human expert knowledge and sprinkled with some solid maths- that let you discover music based purely on the art and not on your past choices, expanding -instead of reducing- your musical horizons.

Research-Grade Music Discovery

Good health makes life possible. Good music makes life beautiful . The same thought process I use to build risk prediction models or estimate treatment effects are applied here to something else I'm passionate about: helping people discover their next musical obsession.

How so? My work is all about techniques that ultimately try to answer 'what-if' questions. This mindset led me to want to capture and understand a complex web of artistic influences and connections that mainstream algorithms will miss...and, hence, will never bring your way.

Beyond the Algorithms

When I'm not building prediction pipelines for health research or refining Stell-R's algorithm, you'll find me running, boxing, record hunting, or (before I moved to Chicago) volunteering at The True Vine Record Shop in Baltimore (best record shop in the world!).
... but mostly always on the hunt for my next great musical discovery.

Discover with Stell-R