Jeff Nivala, PhD                                                                                                                          Assistant Professor, Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington

Jeff Nivala is an Assistant Professor in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington and co-director of the Molecular Information Systems Lab. His research lies at the intersection of molecular technology, computer science, and synthetic biology, with a focus on developing tools for molecular data storage, interfaces, genomics, and proteomics.

Nivala has been recognized with several prestigious honors, including the NSF CAREER Award (2023), the Falling Walls Breakthrough Prize in Art & Science (2022), and inclusion in Forbes Magazine’s “30 Under 30” in science (2017). He completed postdoctoral research in George Church’s lab at Harvard Medical School and earned his PhD at UC Santa Cruz, where he was a fellow of the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) in the Nanopore Group with Mark Akeson. During his undergraduate studies, he worked in David Baker’s lab as a Washington Research Foundation Fellow.

His group integrates synthetic biology, biophysics, biochemistry, computer science, and engineering to create next-generation molecular technologies. Current research efforts focus on nanopore sensing, single-molecule protein sequencing, CRISPR-Cas systems, wet-lab automation, machine learning for biological systems design, and cyber-biosecurity.

The Convergence Seminar is organized by Gladstone’s Institute for Data Science and Biotechnology. This seminar series brings together scientists from varying disciplines to solve complex scientific questions and accelerate the path to cures.