Russ B. Altman

Russ B. Altman is the Kenneth Fong Professor of Bioengineering, Genetics, Medicine, Biomedical Data Science, and (by courtesy) Computer Science at Stanford University. He previously chaired the Bioengineering Department (2007–2012) and led major initiatives like the FDA-supported Center for Excellence in Regulatory Science & Innovation. His research focuses on applying AI, data science, and informatics to drug action mechanisms, pharmacogenomics (via PharmGKB), and protein structure analysis (via the Helix Lab). He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and has received prestigious awards including the U.S. Presidential Early Career Award and multiple fellowships.

Education: AB in Biochemistry (Harvard, 1983), MD (Stanford, 1990), PhD in Medical Information Sciences (Stanford, 1989).

Research Interests: Computational methods for drug response prediction, protein structure analysis, and functional genomics. His lab develops tools like PharmGKB and COLLAPSE for pharmacogenomics and structural biology. Recent work includes leveraging social media data for public health surveillance (e.g., opioid epidemic tracking) and AI-driven biomedical data science frameworks.

Publications & Awards: Over 700 publications, including high-impact studies in Nature Communications and NPJ Digital Medicine. Awards include the AAAS Fellowship and leadership roles in ISCB and ASCPT. He hosts the Future of Everything podcast and co-founded Personalis (NASDAQ: PSNL).

Advising & Grants: Mentored over 50 graduate students and postdocs. Served on FDA Science Board and NIH Advisory Committee. Current roles include Faculty Director of the 100 Year Study of AI (AI100) and Stanford’s Predictives & Diagnostics Accelerator.

Labs & Teams: Leads the Helix Research Group and collaborates with the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI). Active in global health initiatives via the Chan-Zuckerberg Biohub and digital health collaborations with UC Berkeley.