Principal Investigators

MAURER-STROH Sebastian  Executive Director, Senior Principal Investigator Email: sebastianms@bii.a-star.edu.sg Research Group:Protein Sequence Analysis

Sebastian Maurer-Stroh studied theoretical biochemistry at the University of Vienna and wrote his master and PhD thesis at the Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP). After FEBS and Marie Curie fellowships at the VIB-SWITCH lab in Brussels, he has been leading a group of experts in protein sequence analysis as a senior principal investigator in the A*STAR Bioinformatics Institute (BII) since 2007. He is Executive Director of BII since January 2021. His protein function analysis skills are supporting A*STAR’s efforts at the public-private interface and through computational analysis and modelling his team is critically contributing to national and global viral pathogen surveillance. He is also adjunct Professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and infectious disease expert for A*STAR ID labs and the National Public Health Laboratory of the Ministry of Health, Singapore.

Research Interests

Sebastian Maurer-Stroh's research interests lies in mapping the uncharted islands in functional protein sequence space. This includes inferring functions for uncharacterized genes/proteins based on remote evolutionary relationships, prediction of the 3-dimensional structure of proteins, identification of biologically important residues and disease-related mutations, as well as developing predictors for short functional motifs in protein sequences.

Group Members

SELVARAJOO Kumar  Senior Principal Investigator Email: kumar_selvarajoo@bii.a-star.edu.sg Research Group: Computational Biology & Omics Lab Lab Website: https://www.cbio-kumar.org/home Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kumar-Selvarajoo

Kumar is heading the Computational Biology & Omics laboratory at BII, A*STAR. He is also an adjunct Associate Professor at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS and School of Biological Sciences, NTU. Prior, he was an Associate Professor in Systems Biology at the Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University, Japan. He serves the editorial board of Frontiers in Immunology, Genomics (Elsevier) and Scientific Reports (Nature Research). He has lead teams in Computational Biology, Systems Biology, Bioinformatics and Statistical Genetics. In particular, he has used original ideas, utilizing fundamental physical and statistical laws, to investigate multi-dimensional datasets, deterministic and stochastic modelling of complex protein signaling and metabolic networks. He has authored over 80 scientific articles, largely as corresponding author, which includes a single-authored book on Immuno Systems Biology (Springer) and edited book for the reputable Methods in Molecular Biology series. He has obtained several research grants, and has been an international grant reviewer. He has also presented invited/keynote talks at numerous international conferences. In 2013, 2015 and 2018, he founded and chaired the Symposium on Complex Biodynamics and Networks (cBio).

Research Interests

Computational Biology, Systems Biology, Bioinformatics, Data Analytics, Genomics, Cancer & Immunology, Synthetic Biology

Group Members

HUBER Roland G.  Principal Investigator Email: rghuber@bii.a-star.edu.sg Research Group: Function and Structure of RNA

Dr. Roland G. Huber studied computational biology at the University of Innsbruck and at Yale University. After obtaining his PhD he commenced postdoctoral research at A*STAR in Singapore and was appointed as principal investigator in 2019. His group at the Bioinformatics Institute is primarily interested in the interplay of structure and function of RNA in gene regulation and infectious disease using statistical modeling, multi-omics data, and molecular simulations to reveal the structures and functional mechanisms of folded RNA and RNA-protein complexes. The group has previously worked on a variety of tropical and emerging infectious diseases including Dengue, Zika, and SARS-CoV-2. Other areas of interest are multi-omics and metagenomic analysis, particularly in the fields of animal health & aquaculture, and human immunology & ageing.

Research Interests

Roland G. Huber’s research focuses on the structure and function of RNA. The key focus in on integrating sequence, structural, and computational methods to elucidate key functional regions of viral and human RNA. RNA adopts a wide diversity of structure, but at the same time exhibits a high degree of flexibility and a plurality of interactions. This makes functional RNA structures challenging to approach with classical biomolecular structure elucidation techniques alone, and calls for new integrative data analysis approaches.

Group Member(s)

KOH Winston Assistant Principal Investigator Email: Winston_Koh@bii.a-star.edu.sg Research Group: Molecular Innovations and AI Integration

Winston is a bioengineer who obtained his PhD and MS in Bioengineering from Stanford University, after completing his BS in Bioengineering at Imperial College London. After his PhD, Winston joined Molecular Stethoscope, a startup based on his doctoral work, where he worked as a research scientist and scientific consultant.

Research Interests

Returning to Singapore and A*STAR, Winston pursued postdoctoral training in the Molecular Engineering Lab under the leadership of Prof Sydney Brenner. His work in the lab led him to receive the NMRC OF-YIRG award, enabling him to spearhead research on RNA-based liquid biopsies, an emerging field that focuses on non-invasive diagnostic testing, since then Winston's work has been covered applications on prenatal, cancer, and infectious disease diagnostics. He combines liquid biopsies with bioinformatics techniques to achieve accurate and efficient diagnostic outcomes. Alongside his expertise in non-invasive diagnostics, Winston has also delved into machine learning applications for clinical genomics data. He serves as a scientific consultant for local startups, assisting them in operationalizing artificial intelligence for multi-modal genomic datasets, such as single-cell RNA sequencing.

Driven by his commitment to sustainability, medicine, and biological applications, Winston's current research focuses on harnessing the power of generative AI in the field of molecular engineering. The vision is to develop innovative technologies that not only address clinical needs but also contribute to the broader context of sustainability.

Group Members

BREITLING Rainer Senior Principal Scientist Email: rainer_breitling@bii.a-star.edu.sg Research Group: Systems and Synthetic Biology

Professor Rainer Breitling studied biochemistry at the University of Hannover, Germany, and received his Ph.D. from the Technical University of Munich, Germany, in 2001. He held postdoctoral positions as a bioinformatician at San Diego State University (California, USA) and the University of Glasgow (UK), followed by professorial appointments at the University of Groningen (The Netherlands) and the University of Glasgow. Since September 2012 he has been Professor of Systems Biology at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, University of Manchester, UK, currently in an honorary capacity. In January 2025, he joined the Bioinformatics Institute (BII) of A*STAR, where he is responsible for the computational developments underpinning advanced synthetic biology applications.

VERMA Chandra S. (Head) Deputy Director (Research), Senior Principal Scientist III Email: chandra@bii.a-star.edu.sg Research Group: Atomistic Simulations and Design in Biology

Chandra Verma joined the Bioinformatics Institute (BII) A*STAR, Singapore, in November 2003. He heads the division of Biomolecular Modelling and Design and leads a group that applies physics-based models to understand the links between protein sequence, structure and biological function. His group works closely with experimental laboratories where the hypotheses generated are tested. In addition, the group is also involved in designing peptides and small molecules (through virtual screening) both for interrogating biology as well as for therapeutic purposes. Prior to joining Singapore, he worked at the Structural Biology Laboratory in York, UK. He obtained his undergraduate degree at the Indian Institute of Technology, India and his D. Phil at the University of York. He has cofounded two spinoffs: Sinopsee Therapeutics combines a yeast-based platform and modelling with colleagues in A*STAR at IMCB and BTI to screen for and develop new molecules against targets in oncology and opthalmology. Series A funding is being explored for a novel potential therapeutic (eye drop). & Aplomex (design small molecules, peptides, proteins/enzymes and antibodies).

Group Members

FAN Hao  Senior Principal Investigator Email: fanh@bii.a-star.edu.sg Research Group: Structure-based Ligand Discovery and Design

Hao Fan received his undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences in University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). He obtained his PhD in Biophysical Chemistry in Dr. Alan Mark’s lab at University of Groningen (RUG). He worked as postdoctoral fellow followed by research scientist in both Dr. Andrej Sali’s lab and Dr. Brian Shoichet’s lab at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He was appointed Principal Investigator at the Bioinformatics Institute (BII), A*STAR in 2014. Currently He is Senior Principal Investigator at BII A*STAR, Adjunct Associate Professor at NUS Medicine Synthetic Biology Translational Research Program, and Adjunct Associate Professor at DUKE-NUS Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Program.

Research Interests

The broad goal is to develop computational techniques to effectively and accurately model protein-ligand interactions, the developed methods will be applied to therapeutic targets such as GPCRs, transporters and downstream kinases, to contribute to a better understanding and regulation of biological processes, to the discovery of new ingredients for food and nutrition, chemical probes, and drug leads, and to the development of an in-silico platform for chemical toxicity prediction.

Group Members

BEREZOVSKY Igor N.  Senior Principal Investigator Email: igorb@bii.a-star.edu.sg Research Group: Physics and Evolution of Biological Macromolecules

Igor Berezovsky studied physics at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (MSc, 1993) and obtained PhD in physics and mathematics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (1997). He started his scientific career at the Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology (Moscow) where he conducted his MSc and PhD research, then worked as a research fellow (until 1998). After postdoctoral researcher at the Weizmann Institute of Science (1999-2002) and the Harvard University (2003-2006), Igor was a senior scientist/group leader at the Bergen Center for Computational Science, University of Bergen (Norway) before joining the Bioinformatics Institute in January 2014.

Group Members

BOND Peter J.  Senior Principal Investigator Email: peterjb@bii.a-star.edu.sg Research Group: Multiscale Simulation, Modelling and Design

Peter J. Bond is a Senior Principal Investigator of the Multiscale Simulation, Modeling and Design (MSMD) group at the Bioinformatics Institute (BII) A*STAR, Singapore, and Adjunct Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS). His research interests include host-pathogen interactions, receptor signaling, and virus dynamics. Following his graduation in Biochemistry at the University of Oxford in 2001, Peter moved to the Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics to read for a DPhil, supported by a Wellcome Trust Prize Studentship, and was subsequently awarded an EMBO Long-Term Fellowship hosted at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt. In 2010, he became a University Lecturer at the University of Cambridge, before moving to Singapore in late 2013.

Group Members

TAN Yaw Sing Principal Investigator Email: tanys@bii.a-star.edu.sg Research Group: Computational Chemical Biology and Fragment-Based Design

Tan Yaw Sing graduated with a B.Sc. (Hons) from the National University of Singapore in 2009, with a double major in Chemistry and Life Sciences. Funded by the A*STAR Graduate Scholarship, he proceeded to pursue his postgraduate studies at the University of Cambridge, where he obtained his PhD in Chemistry in 2014. In the same year, he joined Chandra Verma’s group at the Bioinformatics Institute (BII) as a postdoctoral research fellow. He now leads his own group in BII after he was promoted to the position of Assistant Principal Investigator in April 2021.

Research Interests
Dr Tan’s research interests span the diverse fields of computational chemical biology, computer-aided drug design, and computational structural biology. He hopes to transform current strategies for drug discovery and chemical biology by improving the accuracy of binding site prediction, providing new insights into the structure and dynamics of drug targets, and guiding the rational design of therapeutics and chemical tools.

LEE Hwee Kuan (Head) Deputy Director (Training and Talent) / Senior Principal Scientist Email: leehk@bii.a-star.edu.sg Research Group: Computer Vision and Pattern Discovery

Dr. Lee Hwee Kuan is a Senior Principal Investigator of the Imaging Informatics division in Bioinformatics Institute. His current research work involves developing of computer vision aglorithms for clinical and biological studies. Dr. Lee obtained his Ph.D. in 2001 in Theoretical Physics from Carnegie Mellon University with a thesis on liquid-liquid phase transitions and quasicrystals. He then held a joint postdoctoral position with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (USA) and University of Georgia where he worked on developing advanced Monte Carlo methods and nano-magnetism. In 2003, with an award from the Japan Society for Promotion of Science, Hwee Kuan moved to Tokyo Metropolitan University where he developed solutions to extremely long time scaled problems and a reweighting method for nonequilibrium systems. In 2005, Dr. Lee returned to Singapore and join Data Storage Institute, A*STAR on investigating novel recording methods such as hard disk recording via magnetic resonance. In 2006, Dr. Lee transferred to BII, A*STAR as Principal Investigator and he leaded the Imaging Informatics Division. 

Group Members

LAU Mai Chan  Senior Scientist Email: Lau_Mai_Chan@bii.a-star.edu.sg Research Group: Advanced Spatial Omics with Quantum and Generative AI

Mai Chan Lau earned her PhD from the National University of Singapore in 2015, focusing on high-performance GPU research. She began her postdoctoral training at the Singapore Immunology Network (ASTAR), focusing on single-cell immunology bioinformatics. Following this, she moved to Boston, USA, where she leveraged AI and machine learning for Molecular Pathological Epidemiology (MPE) studies, using tissue-based multi-marker technology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School. In 2021, she returned to Singapore and joined the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (ASTAR), expanding her research to spatial transcriptomics and AI. In November 2022, she established her own laboratory at the Bioinformatics Institute (ASTAR), concentrating on advanced spatial multi-omics studies using AI and quantum computing. Concurrently, she leads the Computational Immunology Platform at the Singapore Immunology Network (ASTAR). She served as a program committee member for Clinical Translation of Medical Image Computing & Computer-Assisted Intervention (CLINICCAI) during 2022-2024. She holds an editorial board position for the World Scientific Annual Review of Cancer Immunology journal.

GROUP MEMBERS

LOO Lit Hsin  Senior Principal Investigator Email: loolh@bii.a-star.edu.sg Research Group: Complex Cellular Phenotype Analysis

Dr. Loo Lit Hsin is a Senior Principal Investigator at the Bioinformatics Institute (BII), A*STAR, Singapore. He is also an adjunct Assistant Professor at the Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. Dr. Loo’s background is in computational and systems pharmacology/toxicology. He was the recipient of the Lush Prize – Science Award (2016), Award for Excellence in Postdoctoral Research (2010) and the Alfred Gilman Award (2009) by the University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) Medical Center, and the Doctoral Award in Mathematical Sciences and Engineering (2005) by Drexel University. Dr. Loo was a postdoctoral fellow in the Bauer Center for Genomics Research at Harvard University (2005), and then in the Department of Pharmacology at the UTSW Medical Center, USA (2005-2010).

Group Members

YU WeiMiao  Principal Scientist Email: yu_weimiao@bii.a-star.edu.sg Research Group: Intelligent Digital and Molecular Pathology

Dr. Yu Weimiao, an expert in bioimage informatics and computational digital pathology, leads two pioneering groups as a joint Principal Investigator at BII and IMCB. After his Ph.D. in image processing and machine vision from the National University of Singapore, Dr. Yu has been with A*STAR since 2007, advancing to lead the Computational Digital Pathology Lab at BII and the Computational & Molecular Pathology Lab at IMCB. His research, published in top peer reviewed journals like Nature Cell Biology, Nature Materials, Nature Communications, Bioinformatics, focuses on AI-driven computational biomedical image analysis and quantitative imaging informatics.

Dr. Yu’s teams, with over 18 years of experience, excel in developing robust cellular image analysis and molecular diagnosis solutions for clinical application. They integrate diverse methodologies, including signal processing, machine learning, and AI, to create accurate and efficient digital pathology algorithms. Their collaborations with hospitals, biotech, and pharmaceutical companies enhance their expertise in medical algorithm development and validation, aimed at improving patient care. His previous research outcomes were successfully commercialized and made an impact in the medical diagnosis and drug discovery.

An entrepreneur as well, Dr. Yu co-founded A!maginostic Pte. Ltd. to advance the application of AI in clinical diagnostics. He collaborates closely with Singapore General Hospital, National University Hospital, and Tan Tock Seng Hospital, ensuring a seamless R&D pipeline. His world-class joint lab for immunodiagnosis at the tissue level provides intelligent, quantitative imaging analysis solutions, including ImmunoHistoChemistry, Hematoxylin & Eosin, and Multiplex Fluorescence stained images. This integrated platform enables comprehensive profiling of patient immune signatures, aiding in diagnosis, prognosis, and drug response studies.

Group Members

CHEN Jinmiao Senior Principal Scientist Email: chen_jinmiao@bii.a-star.edu.sg Research Group: Single-Cell Multi/Spatial-Omics and Precision Technology

Dr. Jinmiao Chen, a Senior Principal Scientist I at the Bioinformatics Institute (BII), leads cutting-edge research focused on AI-powered single-cell and spatial omics analysis. Her work is instrumental in advancing precision medicine by developing tools and methodologies that make complex biological data more accessible and interpretable for scientists worldwide.

Achievements and Recognition

Dr. Chen’s contributions have earned her numerous accolades, including being named an EMBO Global Investigator (2024-2027), a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate Analytics (2020-2023), and an A*STAR Fellow (2023-2026). Her work is also recognized in the SG 100 Women in Tech initiative.

Collaboration and Impact

Dr. Chen's work stands at the forefront of integrating AI with biological research, and her contributions are poised to make a lasting impact on the field of precision medicine, offering new tools and insights that are accessible to a wide range of researchers.

Beyond her publications and tool development, Dr. Chen is dedicated to sharing her findings and tools with the broader scientific community. The DISCO Data Hub and the ezSingleCell platform established by her lab offer open-access resources for single-cell and spatial omics. These platforms facilitate collaboration, data sharing, and analysis across institutions worldwide. Their global reach ensures that valuable data and tools are accessible to researchers everywhere, accelerating the pace of discovery.

Group Members

KARNANI  Neerja  Head of Clinical Data Engagement, Senior Principal Investigator Email: neerja_karnani@bii.a-star.edu.sg Research Group: Clinical Data Engagement

Karnani Neerja is a molecular epidemiologist and clinical data scientist with 20 years of experience working with academia, industry and national platforms. She started her research career at University of Virginia, USA, where she contributed to the first functional annotation draft of the human genome (ENCODE consortium). She moved to Singapore in 2013 to join A* STAR’s Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS). As the Systems Biology lead at SICS, she developed the multi-omics roadmap for Singapore’s National Birth (GUSTO) and Pre-conception (S-PRESTO) cohorts and identified biomarkers of metabolic and mental health adversities in expecting mothers and their offspring. These findings have been patented and licensed by prominent nutrition industries and are being translated into future interventions. She has also contributed to the research landscape and scientific vision of these cohorts by serving on their executive committees for over 6 years. Beyond the developmental and pregnancy cohorts, she is involved in Singapore National Precision Medicine (NPM) program’s SG10K-Health study and serves on its science and data access committees. To advance her interest in population health analysis and to connect it with the real-world data, she joined A*STAR’s Bioinformatics Institute (BII) in April 2021 as the Head of Clinical Data Engagement. Her team is developing omics based nextgen mobile applications that can provide patient health journey and actionable intervention roadmap for clinicians. Her contributions to the biomedical informatics field were recently highlighted by GovInsider in its special report on ‘Women in GovTech 2021’.

Group Members