Arslan Bisharat

I am a computer science researcher at Loyola University Chicago, where I am completing an MS in Computer Science. I work at the intersection of formal methods, machine learning security, and computational social science. Before research I spent three years building production software, which still shapes the questions I ask about how systems fail and who pays when they do.

My research covers (1) formal verification of specifications generated by large language models, using model checkers rather than human annotators as the ground truth; (2) adversarial robustness and privacy in federated learning; and (3) context-aware detection of online harm, modeling conversations rather than isolated posts.

• Email: marslan -AT- cs.luc -DOT- edu
• Advisors: Yasin Silva, Mohammed Abuhamad
• Labs: AI4FM, BullyBlocker, AISeC
• Google Scholar
• GitHub
• LinkedIn
• CV

Papers

Formal Verification and Program Analysis

• Can LLMs Write Correct TLA+ Specifications? [ICSOFT 2026]
  A. Bisharat, B. Ortiz, E. Spencer, K. Bhadauria, T. Wang, G. Thiruvathukal, K. Läufer, M. Abuhamad
• TLA-Prover: Verifiable TLA+ Specification Synthesis via Preference-Optimized Low-Rank Adaptation [ICSOFT 2026]
  E. Spencer, A. Bisharat, B. Ortiz, K. Bhadauria, T. Wang, G. Thiruvathukal, K. Läufer, M. Abuhamad
• TLA-Bench: An Execution-Grounded Benchmark and Dataset for TLA+ Generation [Under Review]
  A. Bisharat, E. Spencer, B. Ortiz, M. Nazari, K. Bhadauria, B. Santos, A. Ramos, T. Wang, G. Thiruvathukal, K. Läufer, M. Abuhamad

Online Harm and Computational Social Science

• SPILLOVER: Measuring Cyberbullying Norm Propagation on Social Media [ASONAM 2026]
  A. Bisharat, K. Skees, M. Nazari, A. Khan, M. Sandoval, M. Abuhamad, D. Hall, Y. Silva
• It's Not Just Bullying, It's Who Does What: Context-aware Cyberbullying Role Detection [ASONAM 2026]
  M. Sandoval, A. Bisharat, M. Abuhamad, D.L. Hall, Y.N. Silva
• SpectrumNet: Detecting LGBTQ+ Cyberbullying with Dynamic Context-Aware Attention [ICWSM 2026]
  A. Bisharat, M. Sandoval, M. Nazari, M. Abuhamad, D. Hall, Y. Silva
• From Moderation to Mediation: Can LLMs Serve as Mediators in Online Flame Wars? [PAKDD 2026]
  D. Li, A. Alnaibari, A. Bisharat, M. Sandoval, D. Hall, Y. Silva, H. Liu
• ML Model to Better Identify Instances of Bullying Faced by Members of the LGBTQ+ Community [MS Thesis 2025]
  A. Bisharat
• Detecting LGBTQ+ Instances of Cyberbullying [SBP-BRiMS 2024]
  A. Bisharat, M. Sandoval Madrigal, M. Abuhamad, D. Hall, Y. Silva

Machine Learning Security and Privacy

• 1D-CNN-IDS: 1D CNN-based Intrusion Detection System for IIoT [ICAC 2024]
  A. Bisharat, M. Mubeen, M. Bilal, S.F. Abbasi
• Strategies to Avoid Illegal Data Access [JCES 2023]
  M. Mubeen, A. Bisharat, G. Anandhi

Applied Machine Learning

• Evaluating Financial Sentiment in the Age of AI [Preprint, 2026]
  A. Bisharat, O. Hean
• A Deep Features Based Approach Using Modified ResNet50 and Gradient Boosting for Visual Sentiments Classification [MIPR 2024]
  M. Mubeen, M. Rashid, A. Bisharat, A. Aseeri, A. Akram, M.A. Jaffar
• Object Detection for Autonomous Vehicles in Urban Areas using Deep Learning [FTC 2024]
  A. Bisharat, M. Mubeen, S.M. Usman
• A Single Channel-Based Neonatal Sleep-Wake Classification using Hjorth Parameters and Improved Gradient Boosting [IPCAINT 2024]
  A. Bisharat, M. Mubeen, S.F. Abbasi, M.S. Khan, W. Boulila, J. Ahmad

Presentations and Posters

• A Structured Benchmarking Dataset for TLA+ Specification Reasoning [13th Greater Chicago Area Systems Research Workshop (GCASR), May 2026]
  A. Bisharat, E. Spencer, K. Bhadauria, A. Ramos, B. Ortiz, M. Abuhamad, K. Läufer, T. Wang, G. Thiruvathukal
• Large Language Models and Temporal Logic of Actions: How Effective are LLMs for Verification Systems [13th Greater Chicago Area Systems Research Workshop (GCASR), May 2026]
  B. Ortiz, A. Bisharat, E. Spencer, K. Bhadauria, A. Ramos, M. Abuhamad, K. Läufer, T. Wang, G. Thiruvathukal
• Insta-CTSR: Cyberbullying, Topics, Severity, and Roles for Instagram [19th Annual Interdisciplinary Symposium, Loyola University Chicago, 2026]
  M. Sandoval, A. Bisharat, M. Juarez, A. Samakhval, M. Abuhamad, D. Moreira, S. Sikdar, D.L. Hall, Y.N. Silva
• Targeted Backdoor Attack Against Differentially-Private Federated Learning of LLM [18th Annual Interdisciplinary Symposium, Loyola University Chicago, 2025]
  S. Jain, A. Bisharat, M. Nazari, E. Abdukhamidov, M. Abuhamad
• Targeted Backdoor Attack Against Differentially-Private Federated Learning of LLM [12th Greater Chicago Area Systems Research Workshop (GCASR), 2025]
  S. Jain, M. Nazari, A. Bisharat, E. Abdukhamidov, M. Abuhamad
• SpectrumNet: An LGBTQ+ Centric Cyberbullying Detection ML Model [18th Annual Interdisciplinary Symposium, Loyola University Chicago, 2025]
  A. Bisharat, M. Abuhamad, D.L. Hall, Y. Silva

Experience

• Graduate Student Worker (OIRA) Loyola University Chicago [2026 - present]
• Graduate Teaching Assistant Loyola University Chicago [2026 - present]
• Graduate Research Assistant, AI4FM Lab Loyola University Chicago [2025 - present]
• Graduate Research Assistant, AISeC Lab Loyola University Chicago [2024 - present]
• Graduate Research Assistant, BullyBlocker Lab Loyola University Chicago [2023 - present]
• Graduate Research Assistant, Ji Lab Loyola University Chicago / Maywood, IL [2025]
• Research Scholar MLC Research Lab [2021 - present]
• Research Scholar University of Birmingham, UK [2023]
• Full-stack Developer contco (Remote) [2021 - 2023]
• Code Reviewer Microverse [2020 - 2023]
• Research Intern Air University, Islamabad [2022]
• Technical Support Representative Jotform [2021]
• Technical Support Specialist StellarAIO LLC [2020 - 2021]

Education

• MS, Computer Science Loyola University Chicago (expected Aug 2027) [2025 - present]
• MS, Data Science Loyola University Chicago [2023 - 2025]
• BS, Computer Science University of the People, Magna Cum Laude [2021 - 2023]

Service and Leadership

• Senate Representative, GSAC Loyola University Chicago [2026 - present]
• Graduate Program Representative, PhD CS GSAC, Loyola University Chicago [2025 - present]
• Co-Founder & Research Lead, CS Research Spotlight Dept. of Computer Science, Loyola University Chicago [2025 - present]
• Research Initiative Lead, TLA-Bench AI4FM Lab, Loyola University Chicago [2025 - present]
• Web & Communications Maintainer Dept. of Computer Science, Loyola University Chicago [2025 - present]
• Workgroup Member, Student Success Taskforce Loyola University Chicago [2025]
• Graduate Program Representative, MS Data Science GSAC, Loyola University Chicago [2023 - 2025]
• Research Dataset Steward BullyBlocker Lab, 28 researchers across 13+ countries [2023 - present]
• Mentor Dept. of CS, Loyola, 3 students (2 undergrad, 1 MS) [2023 - present]
• Peer Reviewer SBP-BRiMS (2024-2026), ICWSM (2025-2026) [2024 - present]
• Research Judge Chicago Area Undergraduate Research Symposium (CAURS) [2025]

Awards

• Graduate School Travel Award [Feb 2026]
• Merit Award, MS Computer Science [2025 - 2027]
• SBP-BRiMS Student Travel Award [2024]
• Merit Award, MS Data Science [2023 - 2025]
• Magna Cum Laude, Dean's List [2023]