NEWS

e-Newsletter Volume 6 Issue 3 | April 2026 Personal Remarks by Dr. Remo Rohs We are in the last week of classes. In just a few weeks, I am looking forward to seeing another fantastic QBIO class graduate and our CBB students receive their doctoral hoods. Although we won't have a formal departmental graduation event, we will be available to take photos with your family, friends, and faculty on May 15th from 1-3 pm in the USC Village at the corner of Jefferson and Hoover. I am h

A feature article on Alzheimer’s Disease Research at USC Today prominently highlighted research performed by QCB faculty. Pioneered in the lab of QCB faculty member Dr. Seva Katritch (top left), computational drug discovery technologies have been applied to discover new drug candidates targeting Alzheimer’s inflammatory pathways in collaboration with Dr. Yassine at Keck, and Dr. Louie at Mann. The research by QCB joint faculty member Dr. Andrei Irimia (top right) applied deep

We are looking for a new full-time, teaching faculty member in the Department of Quantitative and Computational Biology. This position includes an opportunity for growth and promotions on the teaching faculty track. We are looking for someone who will teach undergraduate statistics and computational biology courses. Review of applications will start on May 15th. More details can be found here.

Erika Li presented her poster, “Neural Network Accurately Predicts Negative Surgical Margins in a Pan-Cancer Model”, using TCGA RNA-sequencing data, at the 21st Annual Undergraduate Student Caucus and Poster Competition at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in San Diego.

QCB joint faculty member Dr. Paul Thompson (right) was installed as the inaugural Popovich Chair in Neurodegenerative Diseases at the Keck School of Medicine of USC by its Dean Dr. Carolyn Meltzer (left). Dr. Thompson is one of the most widely cited neuroscientists in the world and known for developing advanced imaging techniques to map the brain’s structure, function, and genetic influences. The installation highlighted the breadth and impact of his work across disciplines f

Undergraduate students (second from the left to the right) Alex Zhang, Kailin Liu, Viren Mehta, and Kalie Uberti presented their impressive research projects for the class QBIO 465 "Artificial Intelligence in Biology and Medicine" taught by QCB faculty member Dr. Tsu-Pei Chiu (left) in the Rohs lab meeting.

QCB alumna Dr. Tandy Warnow was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Warnow was a postdoc in Dr. Michael Waterman's group in 1991-1992 and is now a professor in the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's School of Computing and Data Science and a Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering. She currently also leads the International Society for Computational Biology's fellow selection committee.

Zainab Neemuchwala co-authored a research letter published in The American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology titled “Glucocorticoid treatment, lower growth and differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) concentrations, and improved hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) symptoms.” The study investigates a potential biological mechanism underlying glucocorticoid effectiveness in HG, showing that treatment was associated with reduced circulating GDF15 concentrations alongside symptom improvement.

University Professor Emeritus Dr. Andy McMahon (right) received the university's Faculty Lifetime Achievement Award at the Academic Honors Convocation from Provost Dr. Andrew Guzman (left). Dr. McMahon is a Professor Emeritus of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (the department he founded at the Keck School of Medicine) and Quantitative and Computational Biology. Congratulations, Andy! And thanks for your continued contributions to QCB.

One of our first QBIO students, Dr. Emily Yang, M.D., graduated from Harvard Medical School and matched for the OB/GYN residency program at Stanford University. Emily was the first QBIO student to win the prestigious national Barry Goldwater Scholarship and was a QCB commencement speaker in 2021. We are so proud of you, Emily!

Physical Biology Ph.D. student Jesse Weller from the Rohs lab defended his dissertation. Jesse developed a hierarchical variational autoencoder AI method, DrugHIVE, for the design of drug candidates that are not described in existing drug libraries and without the need for computationally expensive docking experiments. Jesse has joined Dyno Therapeutics in Boston, MA. Congrats, Jesse!

Two of our first-year Ph.D. students, Tessa Ferrari (left) and Dylan Kemmerer (right), earned Honorable Mention for their NSF GRFP proposals. Honorable Mention is a prestigious designation for highly rated proposals that recognizes exceptional research potential. Kudos for submitting highly competitive proposals!