Firdous Kausar, Ph.D., joined Meharry SACS in July 2025 as assistant professor of computer science and data science. Her research interests span federated learning, blockchain-based cybersecurity, explainable and trustworthy AI, and next-generation quantum cryptography. 

More specifically, Dr. Kausar designs privacy-preserving machine learning frameworks — reinforced by distributed ledgers, homomorphic encryption and differential privacy — to spot false data injection, model poisoning and other advanced threats in power grid and industrial IoT settings. Within machine learning, she is especially interested in synchronizing multimodal, time-varying telemetry from smart meters, EV chargers, wearables and other edge devices, pairing these data streams with explainable AI to deliver real-time situational awareness for energy and healthcare applications. Her overarching goal is to transform raw, distributed sensor data into actionable, ethically aligned intelligence — ensuring confidentiality, integrity, fairness and auditability across the AI pipeline — so that critical infrastructure operators and clinicians can make safer, more informed decisions. 

 Dr. Kausar has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers, including recent work in IEEE Access, Energies and Electronics. She is an ABET-approved program evaluator for computer science and cybersecurity programs. She is also senior personnel or mentor on NSF and DOE-funded projects advancing trustworthy AI, open knowledge networks and secure energy systems. 

Previously, Dr. Kausar served as associate professor and discipline coordinator of the computer science department at Fisk University and has held faculty posts at Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, and Imam Mohammad ibn Saud Islamic University, Saudi Arabia.