Julia Salzman

Julia Salzman is an Associate Professor at Stanford University, affiliated with the School of Medicine in the Departments of Biomedical Data Science and Biochemistry, with courtesy appointments in Statistics and Biology. She serves as a member of interdisciplinary centers including Bio-X, Stanford Cancer Institute, and Sarafan ChEM-H.

Salzman's research focuses on statistical computational biology, particularly RNA splicing, cancer genomics, and microbial systems. Her lab develops algorithms like SPLASH (Statistically Primary aLignment Agnostic Sequence Homing) and SICILIAN for precise splice junction detection, enabling reference-free analysis of genomic data across human, non-model organisms, and planetary health applications (e.g., oceanic systems, plants).

Her 15 most recent publications span 2024–2016, covering topics from cell-free RNA diagnostics to circular RNA in disease. Key methodologies include DEEPEST for gene fusion detection and SQUICH for logarithmic molecular sampling. These works highlight her contributions to cancer biology and viral pandemic response.

Scientific Awards include

• Arc Ignite Investigator (2023)
• NSF CAREER AWARD (2016)
• Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow (2014)
• Baxter Faculty Scholar Award (2014)

Salzman's funding history includes NIH Pathway to Independence and NSF grants. She mentors PhD and Master’s students through courses like BIOMEDIN 290 and BIODS 228, while leading the Salzman Lab in advancing computational genomics and biological modeling.