Sebastian Schönherr

Sebastian Schönherr serves as Professor of Digital and Computational Genomics and Deputy Director of the Institute of Genetic Epidemiology at the Medical University of Innsbruck, a position he assumed in October 2024. Having joined the institute in 2014 after completing his PhD in Computer Science (specializing in databases and information systems) at the University of Innsbruck, he established the institute's data-intensive research infrastructure enabling large-scale genomic analysis.

His research program focuses on identifying genetic and non-genetic risk factors for chronic diseases, with particular expertise in complex genomic regions like LPA. By leveraging massive text-based and imaging datasets from resources including the UK Biobank, his team applies artificial intelligence to uncover novel disease associations. A landmark contribution is his co-founding role in the Michigan Imputation Server—a globally adopted, freely accessible web platform developed with the University of Michigan that standardizes genomic imputation for genome-wide association studies.

Dr. Schönherr's methodological strengths span Bioinformatics, Genomics, Big Data analytics, and AI applications in genetic epidemiology, with emphasis on developing scalable computational frameworks for high-dimensional genomic data. His work bridges computational innovation with biomedical discovery to decode the genetic architecture of common diseases.

He leads a research group dedicated to advancing genomic analysis tools within the Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, supporting both institutional research initiatives and the international scientific community through widely implemented resources like the Michigan Imputation Server.