Bio
Russ Biagio Altman is the Kenneth Fong Professor of Bioengineering, Genetics, Medicine, Biomedical Data Science and (by courtesy) Computer Science) and past chairman of the Bioengineering Department at Stanford University. His primary research interests are in the application of computing (AI, data science and informatics) to problems relevant to medicine. He is particularly interested in methods for understanding drug action at molecular, cellular, organism and population levels. His lab studies how human genetic variation impacts drug response (e.g., http://www.pharmgkb.org/). Other work focuses on the analysis of biological molecules to understand the actions, interactions and adverse events of drugs (e.g., http://feature.stanford.edu/). He helps lead an FDA-supported Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science & Innovation.
Dr. Altman holds an AB from Harvard College, and an MD from Stanford Medical School, and a PhD in Medical Information Sciences from Stanford. He received the U.S. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers and a National Science Foundation CAREER Award. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians (ACP), the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI), the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine, IOM). He is a past-president, founding board member, and a fellow of the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB), and a past-president of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (ASCPT). He has chaired the Science Board advising the FDA commissioner, and has served on the NIH Director?s Advisory Committee, and as cochair of the IOM Drug Forum. He is an organizer of the annual Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing, and a founder of Personalis (NASDAQ: PSNL). Dr. Altman is board certified in Internal Medicine and in Clinical Informatics. He received the Stanford Medical School graduate teaching award in 2000 and mentorship award in 2014. He is the founding editor of the Annual Reviews of Biomedical Data Science, and hosts a SiriusXM radioshow (and podcast) entitled ?The Future of Everything.?
Academic Appointments
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Professor, Bioengineering
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Professor, Genetics
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Professor, Medicine - Biomedical Informatics Research
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Professor, Biomedical Data Science
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Professor (By courtesy), Computer Science
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Member, Bio-X
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Member, Cardiovascular Institute
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Associate Director, Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI)
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Member, Stanford Cancer Institute
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Member, Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute
Administrative Appointments
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Faculty Director, SPADA (Stanford Predictives & Diagnostics Accelerator) (2016 - Present)
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Faculty Director, 100 Year Study of Artificial Intelligence (2015 - Present)
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Associate Director, Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Institute (2018 - Present)
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Member, Biomedical Library and Informatics Research Commitee Study Section (NIH) (2002 - 2005)
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President, International Society for Computational Biology (2000 - 2001)
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President, American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (2013 - 2014)
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Director, Biomedical Informatics Training Program (2000 - 2018)
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Chairman, Department of Bioengineering (2007 - 2012)
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Chair, FDA Science Board (2013 - 2014)
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Member, Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD), NIH (2013 - 2016)
Honors & Awards
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Teaching Honor Roll, Tau Beta Pi (2020)
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Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award, Stanford Biosciences (2020)
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Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2014)
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Stanford Medical School Mentorship Award, Stanford Medical School (2014)
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Fellow, International Society for Computational Biology (2010)
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Member, Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (2009)
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Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (2007)
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Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching, Stanford Medical School (2000)
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Fellow, American College of Medical Informatics (1998)
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Fellow, American College of Physicians (1998)
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U.S. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists & Engineers, NIH (1997)
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Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (1991)
Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations
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Co-Founder, Personalis.com (2013 - Present)
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Editor-in-Chief, Annual Reviews of Biomedical Data Science (2016 - Present)
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Board of Directors, YouScript.com (2018 - Present)
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Advisor, Vanderbilt University Medical School (2014 - Present)
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Advisor, NIH Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) (2013 - 2017)
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Member, FDA Commissioner Science Board (2011 - 2014)
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Co-Organizer, Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing (psb.stanford.edu) (1995 - Present)
Professional Education
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AB, Harvard College, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (1983)
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PhD, Stanford University, Medical Information Sciences (1989)
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MD, Stanford University, Medicine (1990)
Community and International Work
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Host, "The Future of Everything with Russ Altman" SiriusXM 121
Topic
Science & Technology Interviews
Partnering Organization(s)
Stanford Communications, SiriusXM
Populations Served
General Public
Location
International
Ongoing Project
Yes
Opportunities for Student Involvement
No
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Physician, Pharmacogenomics Consult Service, Stanford Clinics, CA
Topic
Providing genetic advice about drug response
Partnering Organization(s)
Stanford Health Care
Populations Served
Local population
Location
International
Ongoing Project
Yes
Opportunities for Student Involvement
No
Patents
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Nicholas Tatonetti, Russ B. Altman, Guy Haskin Fernald. "United States Patent 9305267 Signal detection algorithms to identify drug effects and drug interactions", The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University, Apr 5, 2016
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Kathleen A. Thompson, Russ B. Altman, Oliver M. Duschka. "United States Patent 6178416 Method and apparatus for knowledgebase searching", Jan 23, 2001
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Ramon M. Felciano, Russ B. Altman. "United States Patent 6052730 Method for monitoring and/or modifying web browsing sessions", The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University, Apr 18, 2000