Hannah Tisch

Hannah Tisch is an American computational biologist and bioinformatician recognized for her pioneering work in developing algorithms for analyzing single-cell RNA sequencing data and its application to cancer research. Her research at the intersection of computer science and molecular biology has provided critical insights into tumor heterogeneity and the tumor microenvironment. Tisch holds a joint appointment at the Broad Institute and the Department of Biological Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Early life and education

Hannah Tisch was born in San Francisco, California, and developed an early interest in both mathematics and natural sciences. She pursued her undergraduate studies at Stanford University, where she majored in Computer Science with a minor in Biology, conducting research in the lab of renowned geneticist Michael Snyder. For her doctoral work, Tisch attended the California Institute of Technology, earning a Ph.D. in Computational and Systems Biology under the mentorship of Barbara Wold, a leader in functional genomics. Her thesis focused on novel statistical methods for interpreting high-throughput gene expression data, laying the groundwork for her future research.

Career

Following her Ph.D., Tisch completed a prestigious postdoctoral fellowship at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in the United Kingdom, collaborating with pioneers in the Human Cell Atlas project. She was subsequently recruited as a principal investigator by the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, where she established her independent research group. In addition to her role at the Broad Institute, she joined the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an assistant professor. Tisch has served on several advisory boards, including for the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Moonshot initiative and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's bioimaging projects.

Research and contributions

Tisch's primary research contributions are in the development of open-source computational tools for deciphering the complexity of single-cell omics data. Her team created the widely-used algorithm "SCALPEL," which enables the accurate reconstruction of lineage tracing and clonal evolution in cancers like melanoma and acute myeloid leukemia. This work has been instrumental in mapping the cellular states within the tumor microenvironment, revealing interactions between cancer stem cells, immune cells like T cells and macrophages, and stromal cells. Her collaborative studies with clinical researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center have translated these computational findings into potential biomarkers for immunotherapy response.

Awards and honors

For her innovative work, Hannah Tisch has received numerous accolades early in her career. She is a recipient of the competitive NIH Director's Pioneer Award, which supports high-risk, high-reward research. She was also awarded a Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering and a Sloan Research Fellowship in computational biology. Tisch's research has been recognized by the International Society for Computational Biology, which honored her with the Overton Prize. She has been invited to present her work at major conferences including the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory symposia.

Personal life

Hannah Tisch is an advocate for open science and data sharing, frequently contributing to community resources like the Gene Expression Omnibus and BioRxiv. She mentors students through programs like Summer Internship for Biomedical Research at the National Institutes of Health. Outside of her professional life, Tisch is an avid rock climber and has volunteered with Scientists for Tomorrow, an organization promoting STEM education in Boston public schools.

Category:American computational biologists Category:American bioinformaticians Category:21st-century American biologists