Lab Philosophy and Values
Pursue long standing biological and medical questions, and use data to approach them in ways that would not be explored without you.
We embrace a diversity of thoughts and people, acknowledging that the best science is driven by curious minds capable of exploring cutting-edge questions within their fields without unnecessary distractions. We actively collaborate and publish alongside ethicists, considering ethics as an integral component of science. Our primary objective is to address questions that will bring substantial benefits to broad segments of society.
Thomas Stoeger, he/him/his
Bio: Anticipating a never-dull career in biology, Thomas pursued molecular biology studies in Vienna, working with Juergen Knoblich on fruit fly research. For his PhD in Zurich, he joined the team of Lucas Pelkmans and co-pioneered the first generation of spatial transcriptomics. Later, as a postdoc, he joined Luis Amaral's lab at Northwestern as a Data Science Scholar, focusing on the mechanics of scientific research. This interest segued into research on aging alongside Rick Morimoto and Scott Budinger. With the backing of a K99/R00 grant, Thomas became an Assistant Professor in Northwestern’s Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care and The Potocsnak Longevity Institute and Simpson Querrey Lung Institute for Translational Science in October 2023. Link to past publications and GitHub.
Online talks and coverage (selection): NHGRI council meeting, Vance Crowe podcast, invited lecture at NHGRI, The Scientist, Science
Upcoming talks: Keynote at World Conference on Research Integrity (link); invited talk at American Thoracic Society Meeting; selected talk at Gordon Conference on Systems Aging .
Recognitions (selection): Annual Award of University of Zurich for best PhD thesis in the Faculty of Science; NIA K99/R00 Postdoc-to-Tenure Track Award (with impact score of 11); NICO Service Award (for volunteering in the field of data science); Listed by the largest newspaper in his Austrian home state as one its top 40 personalities (following an external nomination).
Lab members
Spencer Hong, PhD student Co-advised with Luis Amaral. Link.
Jamal Jenkins, rotation student
Zian Liu, incoming postdoc
Join the lab. We are presently not actively recruiting. We are recruiting PhD students via the Driskill Graduate Program. For additional inquiries, or inquiries from potential postdocs, please email: thomas.stoeger@northwestern.edu
Funding
K99/R00 NIH-NIA, Pathway to Independence Award