Matt Thomson

Matt Thomson is a Professor of Computational Biology and Investigator at the Heritage Medical Research Institute (HMRI) at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). He holds a B.A. from Harvard University (2001) and a Ph.D. from Caltech (2011). His academic progression includes roles as Visiting Associate (2016), Assistant Professor (2017-24), and his current full Professor position since 2024.

His research focuses on applying quantitative methods to engineer cellular differentiation and control biological systems. Key areas include synthetic biology, single-cell genomics, and active matter systems. Techniques employed include mathematical modeling, machine learning, and single-cell RNA sequencing. Notable achievements include developing optical differentiation systems, computational tools for cell trajectory analysis, and stochastic models of cellular self-organization.

Thomson's work bridges biology and engineering, with applications in regenerative medicine, cancer immunotherapy, and foundational research in developmental biology. His lab, the Thomson Lab, collaborates with the SPEC initiative to advance programmable biological systems. He also explores AI-driven approaches for protein engineering and large language model optimization in biological contexts.

No scientific awards are explicitly listed in the provided materials. His research is supported by grants and institutional resources at Caltech and HMRI. He advises students and researchers in his lab but no specific names are provided in the text.