Computational Biologist

CZ Biohub Chicago revolutionizes biomedical research with AI, engineering. Since Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg unveiled their plan in 2016 to cure, prevent and manage all disease before the end of the century, the co-founders' Biohub initiative has expanded to locations nationwide. Now, the initiative utilizes advancements in artificial intelligence to achieve this long-term mission. After reviewing applications from institutions across the country, in 2023, the for-profit philanthropy organization selected Chicago as the location for the second Biohub. There, experts across disciplines from the University, Northwestern University and the University of Chicago work together to redefine biomedical research. "We were the one team that they funded nationally out of over 50 teams across the country," said Rashid Bashir, dean of The Grainger College of Engineering. "There is some history of the three of these great universities working together... and this was a great reason to come together to submit a proposal." Researchers at the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago focus on inflammatory responses, as 50% of all deaths are attributed to inflammation-related diseases. This includes forms of heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic kidney disease and autoimmune and neurodegenerative conditions. Gene Robinson, director of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, said that despite differences in research culture, Biohub promotes cross-disciplinary collaboration between engineers, physicians and biologists. "There (are) ... different research backgrounds, and it requires some very specific forms of interaction to put the individuals together so that they can learn from each other and develop common goals and a common language... to be able to achieve those goals," Robinson said. Genomics, Robinson said, can provide researchers with early indicators about genes and molecular pathways involved in a particular biological process. Biohub then uses this information to develop a more targeted, engineering-based approach. "(The hub) builds on traditional genomic research... but there's the engineering flavor to be able to work at scale and to be able to create devices, new kinds of sensors, to be able to measure these phenomena and quantify them," Robinson said. From there, researchers work to manipulate and change the functioning of those biological phenomena. According to Bashir, hub researchers are working on technology that could simultaneously analyze tissue in four different ways. The first objective, Bashir said, is for the technology to be able to test on living tissue. He then emphasized the importance of accuracy for researchers to perform the tests incrementally over time. The final goal is for the technology to perform spatial measurements. This means the technology could measure several parts of the same tissue. "The idea is to move in that dimension, to be able to achieve these four characteristics," Bashir said. "This will really help advance the understanding of inflammation... and if (researchers) understand inflammation, then (researchers) can do something to mitigate it." Since its inception, Biohub expanded its research techniques to include AI, a crucial step, according to Bashir. He explained that the researchers' goal is to develop AI that can perform measurements and provide data, then analyze inflammation on live tissue. In a November 2025 press release, Biohub also announced the launch of the Virtual Immune System project, a flagship effort to model the human immune system using breakthroughs in AI and immunology. "I think AI is certainly a tool that is critical to helping to advance understanding of biology as well," Bashir said. "AI is now truly integrated across the technologies in the hub already, and a lot of work needs to happen in that dimension." Simulating immune therapies, reprogramming dysfunctional cells and preventing diseases before they arise are just a few of Biohub's objectives. In another November 2025 press release, Zuckerberg said AI could accelerate these achievements. "When we started, our goal was to help scientists cure or prevent all diseases this century," Zuckerberg said. "With advances in AI, we now believe this may be possible much sooner."

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are shifting their philanthropy's focus to science and AI. Lauren edmonds new follow authors and never miss a story! * Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan's charity has launched an initiative combining AI and biology. * Biohub announced the initiative on Thursday, saying it will use AI to advance scientific research. * It's the latest pivot for the charity, which originally launched to fix education and cure disease. The philanthropy that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, a pediatrician, cofounded is shifting its focus. That's good news for some, not such good news for others. In a blog post on Thursday, the couple said they would now prioritize their philanthropic efforts on Biohub, a group of biology labs it has supported since 2016. On the same day, Biohub said it would partner with EvolutionaryScale to leverage AI to "dramatically accelerate scientific progress toward understanding and addressing human disease." "When we started, our goal was to help scientists cure or prevent all diseases this century," Zuckerberg said in a press release. "With advances in AI, we now believe this may be possible much sooner. Accelerating science is the most positive impact we think we can make. So we're going all in on AI-powered biology for our next chapter." Zuckerberg and Chan have pledged to give away half their wealth, which could amount to well over $200 billion. When the couple first launched their foundation in 2015, they said it would focus on fixing education, public policy, as well as curing disease. These days, like Meta itself, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has pivoted from those earlier goals to focus on AI. In 2023, it laid off dozens of employees working in its education segment, ended its education policy grants portfolio, and shifted its focus away from an education tool it had previously developed. Last year, Chan said CZI would prioritize funding science. Business insider tells the innovative stories you want to know. "While CZI remains committed to our work in education and our local communities, we recognize that science is where our biggest investments and bets have been and will be made moving forward," Chan wrote in an email to staffers in 2024. Under the latest initiative, Biohub said it's committing to four scientific challenges, including "using AI to reprogram and harness the immune system for early detection, prevention, and treatment of disease." To achieve this, Biohub said it will expand its compute capacity to 10,000 GPUs by 2028. "As we make progress on these kinds of systems, we believe it might eventually become possible to achieve decades of discoveries in months," Biohub said in a press release. "We believe this will come together to unlock frontier medicine." Read next.