PhD candidate Swapnil Keshari was recognized with two leadership awards! Keshari received the Leadership & Service Award from Graduate and Professional Student Government and was also honored as a Student Sustainability Champion for 2026.

The Department of Computational and Systems Biology has a new home! CSB will relocate to the top floor of a newly constructed 10-story building on Fifth Avenue and Halket Street. The move has already begun and should conclude by April 22. Read more: tinyurl.com/CSBFifthHalket

How did SARS-CoV-2 variants acquire dozens of mutations during the pandemic? New research from the Barton Lab investigates how such divergent, highly mutated variants could arise. Read the full research in Virus Evolution: tinyurl.com/BartonSARS2

What is it about a master’s degree that can set you apart from other job candidates? Beyond the personal fulfilment of earning your diploma, there are tangible career benefits to pursuing a master’s degree in Computational Biomedicine and Biotechnology. www.csb.pitt.edu/2026/03/25/5...

The Gur lab has published a new article in JACS Au, a journal of the American Chemical Society, that sheds light on how a promising class of cancer-fighting molecules works at the atomic level. Read more about the research on protein phosphate 2A, an "off-switch" for cancer: tinyurl.com/JACSPP2A

What word would Jennifer Watt use to describe herself? Resilient. This word perfectly captures how the administrative manager has overcome setbacks to thrive in all aspects of her life, from running ultramarathons to building a new career. Read more in our staff spotlight: tinyurl.com/JenniferWatt

From a young age, Warren van Loggerenberg dreamed of becoming a professor. That dream is now becoming reality as he transitions from a research scientist to an assistant professor. Learn more about Warren in our faculty spotlight: tinyurl.com/WarrenSpotli...

Today's the day for Pitt Day of Giving! Join us in making an impact to ensure that we have the latest tools and resources to stay at the forefront of research, discovery, and training. ⏰ Giving ends at midnight. ➡️ Donate today: tinyurl.com/CSBGive

There is a growing need for bioinformatics professionals who can manage and interpret extensive genetic datasets. Have you ever wondered how to become a bioinformatics scientist? Check out this blog post: tinyurl.com/Bioinformati...

Join us in welcoming Professor Kate Rubins and Professor Sylvain Costes to the CSB faculty! Rubins and Costes are founding members of the Trivedi Institute for Space and Global Biomedicine. We can't wait to see what these two will accomplish at Pitt!

Assistant Professor Yu-Chih Chen's new research is enabling more precise detection of cells that are resistant to cancer treatment (PGCCs). They also made these findings accessible via their PGCC Explorer, an interactive web tool for drug discovery. Read more: tinyurl.com/PGCCExplorer

PhD student Sophia Hu and Professor Jianhua Xing’s lab have developed a computational method to demystify what happens when cells go through epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Read more: tinyurl.com/HuEMT #BiologyResearch

🚀 Now launching: the Trivedi Institute for Space and Global Biomedicine! Professor Kate Rubins, a former NASA astronaut, will lead this institute. It will focus on applying insights from spaceflight to improve human health on Earth. Read more: tinyurl.com/TrivediPitt

CoBB alumnus Sahil Ganatra is stepping into a new role as a clinical study manager for Philips. He will oversee clinical trials that are focused on validating and testing medical devices for sleep and respiratory care diseases. Read more in our alumni spotlight: tinyurl.com/SahilGanatra

Pitt researchers are raising the bar for microprotein discovery. By reassessing detection methods, Aaron Wacholder and Anne-Ruxandra Carvunis reveal why standardized protocols are essential for uncovering these elusive proteins' roles in health and disease. tinyurl.com/NatureWachol...

A new study reveals how gene orf143 emerged "from scratch" in primate ancestors and may now protect against cancer. Led by Lin Chou and Anne Carvunis, this research shows evolution creating new genes in real time—with implications for cancer biology. Read more: tinyurl.com/ChouCarvunis

In 2025, the CSB department tackled complex problems at the intersection of biology and technology. We came together in a mission of education and discovery. As we reflect on the impact of the last year, we’ve compiled our favorite stories from 2025. Read more: tinyurl.com/CSB2025Review

🎓Congratulations to Murdo Chiknas, who graduated from the Computational Biomedicine and Biotechnology master’s degree program! His next step is becoming the first person in his family to earn a PhD. Read more in our grad spotlight tinyurl.com/MurdoChiknas

🎓 A big shout out to Steven Smeal, who graduated from the Joint Carnegie Mellon-University of Pittsburgh PhD Program in Computational Biology! His next adventure is working as a postdoctoral associate at Carnegie Mellon University. Read more in this grad spotlight story: tinyurl.com/StevenSmeal

Congratulations to Jessie Weng, a 2025 graduate! She leaves students with some advice: “Trust the process. Some of you might just be waiting on graduation to be done, but be curious about what you’re doing now, too. At the end of the day, curiosity pays off.” Read more: tinyurl.com/JessieWeng

New research alert from the Lee lab! CPCB students Annie Kim and Ben Krummenacher, with ISB’s Jason Yeung, leverage naturally occurring variations of interleukin (IL)-1β from multiple species to determine the impact of affinity on human IL-1 receptor signaling. Read more: tinyurl.com/LeeLabResearch

Donating a little bit of time can make a big impact. On Nov. 21, members of the Department of Computational and Systems Biology spent the day volunteering at Cribs for Kids, assembling 1,000 safe-sleep survival kits for infants. Read more about our volunteering event: tinyurl.com/CribsforKids...

Emeritus Professor Hagai Meirovitch returned to the University of Pittsburgh for a visit last week. “I see many new people, so I think this a good sign that the place is growing and breathing,” he said. “I see progress and a future for the department that we worked to create.” tinyurl.com/HagaiM

How does HIV-1, the virus that causes AIDS, evolve to outsmart the immune system? A new study by Kai Shimagaki and John Barton uncovers striking parallels in HIV-1 evolution between humans and rhesus macaques. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41212071/ #Biology #AIDSResearch

Our department members had a frightfully fun time at the CSB Halloween party!

An international team of scientists led by CSB department chair Fritz Roth has created a first-of-its-kind resource to identify those with a genetic risk for elevated “bad” cholesterol—a major contributor to heart disease. Read more about the research: tinyurl.com/RothScience

When Murat Can Cobanoglu was a child, he lost two grandparents to cancer. This early experience sparked his interest in cancer diagnosis. Now, he works as a staff bioinformatics scientist. Using a blood sample, Cobanoglu’s team can tell whether a patient has cancer or not. 🔗 tinyurl.com/MuratCanC

The Department of Computational and Systems Biology welcomed leading genomics researchers from across the country to Pitt’s University Club for the 2025 Centers of Excellence in Genomic Science Annual Meeting. Read more: tinyurl.com/CEGS2025

Whether he's in the classroom or in the sky, PhD student Swapnil Keshari is always aiming to achieve new heights. After three years of hard work, Keshari earned his wings as a private pilot. Read more: tinyurl.com/SwapnilPilot

✨New preprint!✨ We built dLEM - a differentiable Loop Extrusion Model that bridges biophysics and machine learning for 3D genome folding. dLEM makes loop extrusion learnable and interpretable—predicting how genomes fold and how they respond to perturbations. 🧵

The Gur Lab has created a computational method that brings a new lens to the study of attractive and repulsive interactions across protein interfaces. “We built a tool that doesn’t just count close contacts; it captures the rhythm of motion between molecules,” Mert Gur said. tinyurl.com/GurProtein

Congratulations to Professor Jianhua Xing, who was awarded a grant from National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research! This grant will support his research team's project on outcomes of head and neck cancer using system biology modeling with experimental validation.

New research from the Barton lab could inform the development of HIV cure strategies. The research team created a mathematical model of latently infected cells. HIV DNA can hide in a latent, inactive state and sometimes reactivate, making HIV controllable but not curable. tinyurl.com/BartonArticle

Are you a medical student eager to amplify your impact? Imagine a career where clinical expertise merges with data-driven innovation. The machine learning skills you'll learn in the Computational Biomedicine and Biotechnology program make this possible. Read the blog: tinyurl.com/MachineLearn...

The second annual Pittsburgh Biological Physics Day showcased vibrant research in the Pittsburgh area that merged principles of physics and biology. Read more about the event: tinyurl.com/BioPhysics2025

How is the decrease in awarded NIH research grants affecting society? "The dismantling of the US research and innovation pipeline is causing economic and job losses nationwide. But it is not too late to act," Professor Jeremy Berg et al. write. Read the article in Nature: tinyurl.com/NatureBerg

🔬 New publication alert! The Roth lab has published new research that could improve Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) diagnosis. By creating a missense variant-effects map, they gained new insights into ALS caused by variations in superoxide dismutase 1. Read more: tinyurl.com/ALSVariant #Science

Calling all aspiring bioimaging specialists! Chakra Chennubhotla, chief of AI at PredxBio, explains how he launched a career in spatial biology. “A strong understanding of how to analyze biological images is becoming essential across the life sciences," he said. Read more: tinyurl.com/ChakraCareer

Save the date for Pittsburgh Biological Physics Day on Tuesday, September 16! Join us for a day of science featuring a keynote talk from Yuhai Tu of Flatiron Institute, lightning talks and poster presentations. To register and learn more, visit: tinyurl.com/PittBioPhysics

RNA velocities provide powerful insights into cell dynamics. To address current limitations, Jianhua Xing and his lab created GraphVelo, a machine learning framework that extends RNA velocity to multimodal data. Read the full paper in Nature Communications: tinyurl.com/GraphVelo

📚 Happy first day of classes! If this is your first semester, you may have some questions about life at Pitt. We’ve assembled a list of frequently asked questions to make your transition to campus a little easier. Check it out: tinyurl.com/NewCSBStudents

We had a great orientation yesterday with the new class of Computational Biomedicine and Biotechnology MS students! We can't wait to see what you accomplish during your time at Pitt.

In the complex world inside our bodies, timing can be everything. A new study from Steven Smeal and Robin E.C. Lee reveals the timing of molecular signals can change how cells respond to their environment, with implications for cancer treatment and drug discovery. Read more: rdcu.be/ezTxF

📣New research alert! The Chikina lab has published an article in Annual Review of Biomedical Data Science. In this review, they break down how DNA methylation, a fundamental epigenetic mark, shapes gene regulation and cellular identity. Read more: tinyurl.com/Chikina

👏 Congratulations to PhD candidate Alison Guyer, who has been awarded the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award! This grant is awarded to promising predoctoral students and will fund Guyer's project titled "Morphogen signaling feedback and dynamics in embryonic patterning.”

PhD student Akanksha Sachan has been awarded the Diana Jacobs Kalman/AFAR Scholarship for Research in the Biology of Aging. This scholarship will support Sachan's work in building machine learning methods to interpret cellular dynamics and reprogramming. Read more: tinyurl.com/AkankshaSachan

👏 Congratulations to PhD student Fareeda Abu-Juam, who has been selected to receive an ACM SIGHPC Computational & Data Science Fellowship! This award recognizes potential research contributions in computational science or data science and leadership capabilities.

✨ That's a wrap on TECBio 2025! Thank you to the amazing undergraduate students who spent 10 weeks at Pitt engaging in graduate-level research in computational biology.

A team of researchers in Assistant Professor Jishnu Das’s lab has developed a new language model that could revolutionize how scientists understand protein interactions. This model, Sliding Window Interaction Grammar, captures the nuances of interactions. Read more: tinyurl.com/DasLabModel

Mark your calendars for the 30th Annual SOM Graduate Student Research Symposium! Join us in celebrating the research and scholarly achievements of graduate students across all School of Medicine programs. Register here: tinyurl.com/SOMSymposium #PittGradResearch #SOMSymposium2025