Maria Brbic

Maria Brbic is a Tenure Track Assistant Professor at EPFL, holding dual appointments in Computer Science and Life Sciences. She leads the Machine Learning for Biomedicine Lab (MLBIO) and is affiliated with the EPFL AI Center and Institute of Bioengineering (IBI). Prior to EPFL, she conducted postdoctoral research at Stanford University and was a member of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub.

• PhD: University of Zagreb (2019)
• Postdoc: Stanford University (2019-2021)

Her research develops machine learning methods that generalize to novel biomedical scenarios, focusing on heterogeneous datasets like single-cell RNA-seq and spatial transcriptomics. Key contributions include SATURN for cross-species integration and MARS for novel cell-type discovery.

Recent publications explore generative AI for tissue reassembly, multimodal foundation models, and unsupervised in-context learning applied to biomedical problems. Her lab pioneered open-world learning frameworks for drug discovery and aging research.

• Fulbright Scholarship
• L’Oreal UNESCO for Women in Science
• Branimir Jernej Award
• Josip Loncar Silver Plaque
• MIT Rising Star in EECS (2021)
• SNSF Starting Grant (2024)

Maria advises PhD students in computer science and computational biology. Her work bridges disciplines through collaborations with bioengineering labs, emphasizing interdisciplinary innovation and real-world biomedical impact.