Dr. Trey Ideker is a pioneering systems biologist whose transformative work has established the foundational frameworks for understanding cellular networks and their implications in human disease. He currently serves as Professor of Medicine and Bioengineering at the University of California, San Diego, with joint appointments across the Departments of Medicine, Bioengineering, and Computer Science and Engineering. Following Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT, he made a significant career transition to molecular biology, earning his PhD from the University of Washington under Leroy Hood. Ideker joined the UC San Diego faculty in 2003, serving as Division Chief of Medical Genetics from 2009 to 2016, and has established himself as a leader in bridging computational engineering approaches with complex biological systems. His early work at the Whitehead Institute following his PhD laid the theoretical groundwork for his subsequent paradigm-shifting contributions to network biology.
Dr. Ideker's laboratory has led seminal studies establishing the theory and practice of systems biology, producing highly influential maps of protein-protein, transcriptional, and genetic interaction networks across model organisms and humans. His research team developed the widely used Cytoscape network analysis software platform that has become an essential tool for thousands of researchers worldwide, enabling the systematic visualization and analysis of complex biological networks. He introduced core concepts including network biomarkers that provide multigenic definitions of patient subtypes and treatment responses, fundamentally reshaping precision medicine approaches. His laboratory also pioneered experimental mapping techniques such as synthetic-lethal interaction mapping with CRISPR/Cas9 and characterization of differential interactions across cellular conditions, which have broadly informed our understanding of disease mechanisms in cancer and neurological disorders. Notably, in 2013, Ideker and colleagues made the landmark discovery that molecular aging could be precisely measured through epigenetic markers in blood and tissues, establishing the first epigenetic clock and launching an entirely new field of research.
As a field leader, Ideker serves on editorial boards of journals such as Cell, Cell Systems, PLoS Computational Biology, and Molecular Systems Biology, while directing the National Resource for Network Biology and co-directing the Cancer Cell Map Initiative to shape research directions globally. His current leadership extends to innovative projects including the ARPA-H ADAPT Precision Oncology Center developing Dynamic Digital Tumors and the Bridge2AI Cell Maps for AI Data Generation Project, positioning him at the forefront of AI-driven biomedical research. Ideker's laboratory continues to push boundaries by creating artificially intelligent, mechanistic models of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, with recent work demonstrating how network maps serve as substrates for deep learning models of cell structure and function. Recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate in 2023 and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, his work consistently ranks among the most influential globally. Through his mentorship of numerous trainees and collaborative approach to science, Dr. Ideker continues to catalyze transformative advances at the intersection of computation, engineering, and biomedicine.
