Baridhi Malakar, PhD. BIO: Baridhi Malakar, PhD, is an independent researcher and Senior Model Risk Analyst at Western Alliance Bank, specializing in quantitative model validation and applied research. He earned his PhD in Finance and MS in Economics from the Georgia Institute of Technology. His research focused on municipal bonds and financial econometrics. He has also worked as a research assistant at the Atlanta Research Data Center. His current interests lie at the intersection of investment research, municipal bonds, and the use of AI/ML in financial decision-making. More of his work can be found at baridhi.github.io. Before starting his PhD, he worked across investment banking and currency derivatives in Bombay. He holds a B.Tech. in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee and an MBA in Finance from XLRI Jamshedpur. Find Malakar on LinkedIn and Google Scholar. The views expressed in his posts are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of his employer.